Toxic Art Materials and Labels
The labels game in art materials can be quite confusing. For example, many artist paints are made from widely recognized toxins, but still have safety labels. By law, all art materials except for furniture, brushes and other tools, must be properly labeled for hazardous contents. Paints, solvents, clays, crayons and so forth must be properly labeled. A law called "The Labeling of Hazardous Art Materials Act" spells out the labeling requirement, and it is enforced by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Are there materials on the market that should be labeled for safety, but are not? Indeed there are. Just look for the words "Conforms to ASTM D-4236" on the product labels next time you are in an art supplies store - those words should be there. A manufacturer cannot just create a safety label for a product. The product must first be evaluated by a toxicologist, and that costs money. This probably has something to do with the lack of ASTM D-4236 labels on some products.
What does all this have to do with health? Well, hopefully the art materials you are buying are properly labeled so that you can tell what is in them and what problems there might be. However, the safety label does NOT mean the item is non-toxic. It is not at all uncommon for some oil paints to have cadmium or lead as part of the mix. If it has a ASTM D-4236 label, it can still be sold, even though Cadmium and lead are recognized as toxins. If an art product contains a toxic element, the label should have a warning appropriate to the content. It should say for example, "Warning", "Caution", "Avoid Skin Contact", and so forth. Many higher quality oil paints have the pigments listed on the label, in addition to the safety warnings.
The point is, all art products should have safety labels, but the labels are only helpful when they are read and understood.
Toxic Art Supplies
Even when art materials have the ASTM D-4236 label that doesn't tell you about harmful VOC's "Volitile Organic Compounds" that are bad for you AND the earth.
Toxic Art Supplies and VOC
Thanks for bringing up the important issue of Volatile Organic Compounds. Although there is no internationally accepted definition for VOC, in general the term refers to chemical compounds that evaporate when the temperature is over 50 degrees. This, of course, includes a wide range of chemicals, including the gases released from agriculture, fireplaces, and animal dung. But more importantly for our purposes, there is concern about VOC released by solvents and distillates used in the manufacture of paints.
Many oil-based paints traditionally made for use in house painting, furniture finishing, and so forth contain significant quantities of petroleum-based solvents. These solvents release high levels of VOC. When used indoors, these paints can contribute to a toxic indoor environment. Yet, the use of solvents in oil-based house paints and varnishes is necessary in order for the paint to flow smoothly. In the past few years, manufacturers of house paints have developed acrylic paints to replace oil-based house paints and varnishes, and thus reduce the problems created by solvents. Acrylic paints have also been developed by several companies for use in art. However, many artists prefer the look and feel of traditional oils for painting.
In paints used for art, the primary solvent since the industrial revolution has been turpentine. Turpentine releases high levels of VOC, and is generally regarded as toxic. However, the use of turpentine is by no means an essential or universal element of artist oil paints or the painting process. Historically, oil paints have been made using linseed oil or walnut oil – both release very low levels of VOC. In fact, some paint manufacturers that promote “low or no VOC” paints use linseed oil. Linseed oil is also called flax oil, and is sold for the promotion of health in organic food stores.
The best artist paint manufacturers use only linseed oil (or walnut oil) and pigment. For example, Old Holland uses cold-pressed linseed oil and a high concentration of pigment. “Cold-pressed” is the process praised by the health food industry in the production of flax oil. When it comes to lower quality paints made for use in art, there are often inexpensive additives used, such as calcium carbonate (marble, chalk, limestone) or silicates (sand). The primary problem comes when artists add solvents such as turpentine or mineral spirits to the process. Many artists are now discovering that brushes can be cleaned without solvents, using soap – like the oil on dishes after dinner. Further, the use of turpentine as a medium is not at all necessary if the artist uses linseed oil and/or spike lavender oil. Indeed, assuming the elimination of turpentine and petroleum-based solvents, oil painting in art is truly a “low or no” VOC contributing form of artistic expression.