This week, it’s all about art; specifically, the toxic chemicals that show up in many commercial art supplies and which are — and have been, for decades — been causing all kinds of health gnarliness for amateur and professional artists. We’re talking cancer, chronic diseases, dizziness, headaches, and more, in addition to the significant environmental damage that comes with these toxins.
It’s all made that much worse by a beyond-byzantine labeling protocol; lack of formal and informal instruction as to how to handle these toxic supplies; the fact that many art schools appear to violate health and safety regulations designed to stop this kind of problem; and a laissez-faire attitude that may be attributable to the mystique of the suffering artist. Reporter Jessica Carew Kraft — herself an artist and art teacher — dives in.
