Oil painting is about as dangerous as cleaning your bathtub. Both involve using a few chemicals that, with reasonable precautions, any intelligent adult can handle without hazard. Artists, however, get a little excitable sometimes and either way overstate the dangers involved or ignore them.
First, the oil in oil paint is natural and non-toxic. I’ve seen people on internet forums say that they are switching to acrylic because they’re concerned about the toxicity of oils. That’s funny, because oil is less toxic than the acrylic polymer emulsion used to bind acrylic paint. All of the different kinds of oils (linseed, walnut, poppyseed, safflower) can be found in health food stores (linseed oil is also called flax seed oil). They are edible and have a pleasant, mild odor.
Pigments are, with a few exceptions, the same from one kind of paint to another. Some of them are mildly or moderately hazardous to ingest and some of them are, basically, dirt. Cadmium colors are used in most varieties of paint, including acrylic and watercolor—they’re very bad to eat. You can, if you choose, get a few pigments in oil that are particularly bad to ingest, but you have to seek those out. They include flake white, genuine vermilion, genuine Naples yellow, and lead tin yellow. However, the same reasonable precautions that you should use with other paints—which I’ll describe shortly—will also keep you safe if you choose to use these specialty pigments. There are also some paint additives, such as cobalt drier, black oil, Maroger’s medium, and lead napthenate, that contain substances that are hazardous to consume.
I’d like to particularly mention lead, because some artists may be confused by what they see on the local TV news. The problems that arise with leaded interior house paint are not relevant to making art unless you plan to let children eat your paintings (I would strongly recommend against this). Lead is hazardous if it enters your bloodstream, but if you are careful, that’s very unlikely. It doesn’t penetrate skin. It won’t hurt you unless you eat it, breathe lead powder, rub it in your eyes, or fail to duck if someone tries to shoot you with lead bullets. Paint, mediums, and driers containing lead don’t give off toxic fumes. Although it may be wise to avoid dry lead pigment (as well as other hazardous pigments in powder form), prepared materials containing lead can be quite useful.
I do recommend that pregnant and nursing women have nothing to do with materials containing lead, cadmium, or mercury. That doesn’t mean there is any reason to give up oil painting, just that you should avoid certain pigments.
The colorless pigments added to oil paint as extenders, such as alumina stearate or blanc fixe, are not something I’d put on my breakfast cereal, but neither are they particularly toxic. Nor are the resins or waxes a few companies include in their paint formulations.
No matter what pigments you work with, you need to make sure that you don’t ingest paint. That means that you must develop safe and consistent work habits. Never put brushes in your mouth. Never touch your face or hair while painting. Don’t eat, drink, or smoke while painting. Use disposable gloves if you have cuts on your hands. Make sure your workspace has good ventilation. Wash your hands (including under your fingernails) and all of your tools thoroughly after painting. Clean up your work area when you are done. And always make sure that painting materials are inaccessible to children and pets.
Solvents such as spirits of turpentine, mineral spirits, denatured alcohol, and oil of spike should be used with some care. Because they are volatile and evaporate quickly, use them in areas with good ventilation. They are potentially flammable, so don’t allow open flames where solvents are being used. Some people are very sensitive to the smell of spirits of turpentine. Good quality artist’s turps (I like the stuff from Winsor-Newton) are more expensive, but smell a lot better than the awful stuff you get in hardware stores. Keep any container with solvents covered when not in use—don’t have jars of medium or brush washing solvent just sitting open when you paint. Instead, keep the jar closed when you’re not using it and don’t leave brushes sitting in solvent—it’s not good for them anyway. Odorless mineral spirits and some other thinners don’t have a noticeable smell, but don’t be careless with those, either. They can cause headaches (which you might not ascribe to a substance without a smell) and some people (including me) have skin sensitivities to them.
If you develop a sensitivity to solvent fumes, the first thing to do is make sure you have adequate ventilation and are exposed to only very small amounts at a time. If the problem persists, you’ll need to stop using that solvent. If you find that you are sensitive to all of the volatile solvents used in oil painting, you may need to switch to a painting process that avoids solvents altogether. If you are sensitive to solvents, it is possible to use oil paint without them (some oil paint brands are easier to use unmodified than others—try Studio Products, Doak, or M. Graham). You can buy a jug of cheap linseed oil and clean up with that. You can use it to wipe your brushes as well (wash with soap and water afterward). You can avoid thinning your paint, or just add a touch of oil.
One rare but potentially severe hazard with oil painting is spontaneous combustion. Drying oils, under rare circumstances, can generate enough heat when drying (oxidizing) to catch on fire. That’s not a concern on the surface of a painting or in a closed container, but in a closed space that allows oxygen to enter, such as a trash bin, a pile of rags or paper towels soaked in oil or oil paint can combust. It is best to either have a fire retardant trash can, or throw rags into a container half full of water. I sometimes allow painting rags to collect in in the open on a counter. When it’s time to throw them away I put them into a plastic grocery bag, soak them in water, and put them into the trash for pickup the next day.
If you are one of those rare artists who makes their own paint by working with powdered pigments, then always use a dust mask, even with pigments that are only powdered earths. You only ever get one set of lungs.
I think that’s it. Use reasonable and sensible precautions, and don’t worry.
please can you tell me if all powder pigments have the same properties in them that is the powder pigments you mix to make paint
please let me know if powder pigments all have the same chemicals in them
Pamela,
I’m not sure what you’re asking. If they all had the same properties, they would all be the same color. Each has a different chemical makeup.
You mention proper ventilation? What is the best way to accomplish this? I’m especially interested in how to paint during winter — when I don’t want my windows open — without a bit loopy from fumes. Thanks
Again, I too am interested in proper ventilation. My daughter developed chemical bronchitis at her art school. She had been painting with oils for six weeks in her classroom/studio when this occurred. The college claims it has “adequate ventilation,” but I am not sure what that really is. I would think it would be some mechanism that is always on to pull out any harmful chamical toxins from the air. What do you think is the the best way to accomplish this?
sbristol,
If your daughter really wants to keep painting in oil, it would help to know exactly what she is sensitive to. Is it the oil in the paints or is it the solvents used to thin the paints? In many cases it’s the solvents. Just because mineral spirits have no smell, for example, does not mean your body can’t react to them. In order to keep using oil paint, one first step could be to switch to a solvent-free approach. That would not be possible in a public studio, but could work for her in a private space.
On the other hand, if she’s reacting to the oil in the paint (less likely, but possible) then she might need to give up oil paints. It is possible that paints made with walnut oil, such as those by M. Graham, would be less problematic.
The degree of ventilation is relative, and “adequate” for most is clearly not sufficient for your daughter in these specific circumstances. The more air exchange that occurs, the better the ventilation. That means fans blowing air out of the room in a way that does not allow fumes to recirculate (i.e., fumes are blown outside). I’m by no means an expert on that subject. It is certainly possible to create a private studio with lots and lots of ventilation. That can get cold in the winter, though.
A great article. One thing you don’t discuss as a possible solution to rid an area of airborne solvents, is air filtration rather than ventilation. In some situations ventilation is the best solution. In other situations filtration is better, for example if one would be venting expensive heated or air conditioned air. Also, many people don’t want to ventilate in a populated area where they would be venting volatiles into someone else’s space. We make a studio air filtration system (Artist’s Air) designed for artists, and there are others who sell air filtration systems that one could use. You might look into them.
While oil paints are non-toxic, I apply oil paint using the tip of my finger as a tool. Is this safe?
Kathleen,
So far as I know, yes it is. I paint with my fingers all the time, and I use several toxic pigments. I am very careful not to touch my face or hair while I’m painting, and I wash my hands thoroughly afterward.
Sorry to break in on this, but hell no… it is really not safe at all, a doctor friend of mine was explaining how much we can absorb chemicals through the skin, we are really like sponges… Yikes really dangerous with regard to Cadmiums, lead white, and many more!
Tom,
It’s nice that you know a guy, but there’s lots of conflicting information from reliable sources such as MSDS forms from many manufacturers, a number of books on art materials, etc. The skin’s function is to prevent toxins from getting through. While it is hardly perfect at that task, comparing it to a sponge just doesn’t make sense. There are chemicals that can be absorbed through the skin, of course, but those are not present in significant quantities in oil paint.
That’s what I’ve discovered from lots of research. You should, of course, make decisions on the best information you think you have.
Do not paint with your fingers directly. The heavy elements within the paints can over time be absorbed into your skin (which is in fact a semi-permeable layer, but certainly no sponge) and have adverse effects on your body. Of course this is all over time, nothing immediate will occur except for some allergic reactions, if at all. Please, if you want to actually live to be 90 do NOT paint with your fingers directly! Even if using acrylics it’s not the best idea, there are trace amounts of ammonia and formaldehyde released when the paint dries, and the cadmiums, chromiums, etc. can and still will be absorbed with over exposure.
Do NOT paint with your skin directly!
Trying water-miscible oils off and on, with open doors to garden and ceiing fan and studio air cleaner gadget, and in addition to smell bugging family, whenever I paint my sinuses go beserk, sometimes w severe headache. I gave up stuff called “Turpenoid Natural” for helping to clean goofs on canvas w brush, rag, or q-tip but I do like to use Windsor Newton fast-dry medium, or occasionally stand oil for water-mix oils if I need flow> Was almost going to go pop for a whole set of acrylics and sacrifice the look and medium I really like the look of on canvas when I saw your website. I use non-toxic liquid or solid brush cleaner along w a soapy water second step and finish w a swish in plain water. I dispose of everything in a tightly capped gallon paint can filled w water.
Help. Feel like clothespin on my nose all week while trying to work an hour a day or so and hopelessly in love w oils having gone back to them from watercolor hobby. Last, I think the fast-dry agent may be alkyd. How does anyone safely use that if it is? Thank you so much. Claire
Claire,
It may be that oil paint is not going to work for you, if you have a sensitivity to the oil rather than to the materials associated with oil painting. You might want to try paints ground in walnut oil, such as those made by M. Graham, as you may find that you don’t have the same sensitivity to walnut as to linseed. Other oils that paints may be ground in include poppy and safflower oil.
If that just doesn’t work, you could try the newer acrylic paints that have a longer open time than “traditional” acrylics. If I couldn’t work in oils, I would switch to egg tempera, myself.
Good luck!
Try M Graham’s Walnut Alkyd… Really safe, totally NON TOXIC, you can use the walnut for for cleaning brushes (harmless) and I understand also as a thinner. His paints are made from walnut base aswell… bingo!
Tom,
Haven’t tried the walnut alkyd. As I mentioned to Claire, it sounds like her problem is with the paints themselves. Linseed oil is non-toxic (you can buy it in health food stores—they call it flax seed oil).
Walnut oil is no more or less toxic (and also available in health food stores). Some people have a sensitivity to the smell of one or both of them. If she’s not sensitive to walnut oil, then the Graham medium may work fine. If she is sensitive to it, then it will probably cause her just as many problems.
As to the skin being absorbant, there is the case of the film “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Where the girl who played Violet Beauregarde, who ate a prototype chewing gum,
and turned into a blueberry, as daft as that may sound, the makeup artists had to paint her blue, she washed it off after the filming, and a day or so later it came back as she had absorbed it, and again she washed it off, but it came back a day later. You may not like to hear that, but it is true.
Tom,
I’ll be sure to keep that in mind the next time someone asks if they can cover my whole body in theatrical makeup. Not sure whether such anecdotal stories have any applicability to what happens if you get a bit of paint on the tip of a finger, however.
When painting I use the Artist’s Bottle to hold my medium. It’s a plastic bottle that is specially made to be resistant to turpentine/mineral spirits (regular plastic warps and cracks). The flip top lid is cool because I can drip it onto the palette instead of worrying about cleaning my brush to dip it into a jar etc. and also since there’s the flip top lid, there’s less fumes and evaporation. http://www.kinsandco.com/Products/Art/ArtistsBott…
Hello David,
Thank you for the helpful information about painting without solvents using linseed oil. I am going to try this and experiment with egg tempera under-painting. I am trying to piece your advice together with other research on pigments. I guess the main question for myself is, how much risk do you want to take and how careful can you trust yourself to be? (I sometimes forget which cup has coffee and which one has watercolor water!) It is very bewildering to read about the toxicity of pigments, and then read their health labeling which sometimes claims “non-toxic.” What pigments are used by crayola and in poster paints for children? Do high quality water colors use the same chemical pigments as oil paint? I am also a house-painter and have recently been doing a lot of web research on the safety of paints, acrylic emulsions and VOCs and all that. It is really bewildering because obviously some VOCs are fine and occur naturally, and some are not. I have yet to discover what exactly is hazardous about acrylic polymer emulsion even though I know it is (I don’t always feel good after painting all day…). My question about acrylics is this: commerical paints smell bad (VOCs) and are environmental hazards; Why do artists’ acrylics have no odor? Are they made without the harmful chemicals? Do they also have VOCs or are they just toxic by ingestion? Thanks.
Bethany
Bethany,
I agree that if you have trouble maintaining consistent studio safety habits, you should be extra careful in deciding which materials you will work with.
I’m afraid that I don’t know much about latex house paint. There a number of ways to make “acrylic” paints, so one type is not necessarily comparable to another.
Acrylic Polymer Emulsions have a few extra ingredients that are toxic. If you look up MSDS for Golden Acrylics, you’ll see ammonia and formaldehyde listed.
Ammonia helps keep the acrylic polymers fluid, and formaldehyde is used a a preservative (water based emulsions can make happy homes for bacteria/mold…even if plastic based).
As to why water based “latex” house paints smell more, its mainly because you end up using so much more to cover huge surface areas. There are some extra things in the acrylic paint for houses (mainly anti-fungal additives) which may also contribute.
If you get a good layer of artist acrylics on a big canvas, you will certainly notice the smell then. Not quite the same odor as house paint, but similar.
Alex,
Thanks for the useful info.
Hi, sorry to interrupting.. Regarding to ventilation, would it be wise to do oil-painting(provided that i followed all safety regulations) in my bedroom? I do not have any other space to do oil painting :(
Thanks!
Boo,
So long as you have good ventilation, I don’t see why not. Some people are sensitive to the smell of drying oils; if you get headaches or other symptoms, you might need to change your approach.
Hi David,
Thanks for the fast reply. I have read more about oil-painting without using any solvent and I had bought linseed oil and purified poppy oil too, hoping that I can avoid turpentines as much as possible. Im sure that there is advantage of using solvent but I guess starting without solvent is not that bad either. I just wanna have fun doing oil painting!
Cheers!
Hi David!
Thanks a lot for this article. I’m just about to start painting with oil and am very excited. However, i am doing it in a small room in my home. I’m going to open the window and also use a face mask because i’m using cadmiums and am a bit nervous. Is that enough for ventilation?
My other question is that i’m going to be using Refined Linseed Oil as a medium. I understand about rags, but will anything else possibly combust? Such as the painting itself? Or brushes? Or left out paints (i plan to cover the palette up w/ plastic wrap to re-use them later.) I think you said it wouldn’t unless in a trash can, etc. Maybe these are stupid questions but i would rather not put my family or myself at risk and am trying to take all the necessary safety precautions w/out freaking out so much that i don’t paint at all….thanks in advance!!
Best, Heather
Ok, BUT—- you are still using by-products of the OIL industry and heavy metals. Toxic to YOU or not, where are you pouring your refuse? Where is that going? The landfill? Just outside somewhere? Do you realize you support the oil industry by using these materials. I agree, acrylic is worse, smells awful, and dries way too fast. I found another way, and so did others. But since you support big oil, enjoy yourself!
Mother,
Big oil? Do you think Exxon and BP sell linseed oil? Do you have any idea where the materials used as binders for oil paint come from? Please find a clue somewhere before you troll art blogs posting random critiques.
As an artist married to a physician, I will also have to disagree Tom and hope other artists listening consider this; our skin is a large sponge which absorbs so many of the toxins we put on the skin, and filter them to the blood stream and other organs. If you want health advice ask a health professional. If you want art advice…..ask an artist.
Respectfully, Veronica
Just to be clear…what exactly is the combustible matter? The paint itself ( which is just oil and pigment) or the solvent?
Are rags that are soiled with paint going to combust if piled together? Or do the rags have to have solvent on them too?
Someone told me that a safe way to treat solvent soaked rags is to wet the rags down with water because the solvent on them will evaporate faster than the water. Any wisdom to that?
thanks!
Hello, My experience has been that the alkyd driers in the walnut oil not only don’t help with the drying that much, they also give me a headache. I have started using cold pressed linseed oil with no dryers. This has worked so far. Don’t use paints with cadmium or lead. Risking your health is absolutely not worth it. There are nontoxic alternatives out there, just look for red and yellow paints with nontoxic labels. If you don’t start using paints with heavy metals, you will never have to switch and you will never miss them.
Always paint with a window open. Thin plastic disposable gloves are very cheap. Wear them! Nontoxic does not mean edible. They still emit fumes and must be used with care.
Happy Painting, Mom
I have been painting using oil paints mfg. by camlin India & sometimes by Winsor & Newton for the last 12 years. In the last four years I have noticed feeling sick in the stomach, a feeling of wind accumulating an unwell for a few days. This is not a coincidence and I quite sure about it. I reduced painting and now paint occassionally. I ask for your advice because I am very careful not to suck on the brush or stain my fingers with paint. I use a cloth to squeeze out the paints and I usually work with paint without diluting. rgds. Leonard pinto mobile number 91 96320 98413
So my cat sits likes to sit on the rafters in the area that is where I paint and she watches me paint almost every day. Today she must have gotten curious because she jumped right on top of the palate and immediately back off when she landed in the sqiushy oil paint. I have had this cat and this hobby for years and this is the first time it has happened. She is an all white cat that now has one ivory black paw and one sap green paw. I’m very worried about her because I know i cant stop her from licking it and the color stuck very well to her white fur. Should I try to get her to drink milk like they do for kids in poison control? How toxic are these paints? the black tube says it was made with linseed oil and charred animal bone carbon. the green says phtaloyanine green pg7, arylamide yellow gxpy73, and trans red iron oxide pr101
Terri,
I have no idea. I think you should call a veterinarian right now.
Thank you for giving helpful information the safety procedure of oil painting . Being a safety officer it is very vlueble to my profession !
reading VanGogh: ’ I sacrifice my life for it’ That may be the definitive comment on painting. as it can be dangerous both physically and mentally. But you do what you love doing, so don’t worry, be happy with the alchemy.
Thanks for the information on oil painting and the safety behind it. My sister is actually studying this so I will be sending her over this article. I find it very interesting, so I can imagine what she will think about it.
Thanks for the cool information
–Jamie
Jamie,
My pleasure. Glad you found it helpful.
Please make sure your sister knows to take anything found on the internet with a grain of salt, including here. There are lots of “experts” who don’t know what they are talking about.
Hi: Our puppy accidentally chewed a tube of Windsor Newton Ivory Black. He didn’t get all of it but he did get some.
Is it poisonus?
I wiped his mouth with a wet washrag. Is there anything else I should do?
He got it off of the table that is much taller than he is. Maybe the cat knocked it off for him.
Thanks for an answer as we are wrecks now,
Dawn
Dawn,
I would not recommend asking questions like these of people on the internet you’ve never met. For all you know, I am a clueless idiot who would tell you exactly the wrong thing.
As it is, I will say that I have no idea. I would suggest you speak with a veterinarian. Sorry but this is not the kind of advice I have any business trying to provide.
Best of luck,
David
Tom,
You’re right. We’re just going to disagree on this one.