A Painter Who Became Allergic to Paint?

This article was  originally published in Pyragraph, April 2017, “A Painter Who Became Allergic to Paint.” An interview with Friedhard Kiekeben of Nontoxic Print followed. I am happy to report that my health situation has improved vastly and I’m back in the studio using safer studio practices. I’ve expanded on this  article in order to serve as a resource to help other artists who find themselves in a similar situation. 

Painter Who Became Allergic to Paint
“Seven Sisters” in the studio. Near completion. oil on canvas 53 x 57 in

I could no longer enter my painting classroom or my painting studio

February 2016, I taught a painting class on color theory and oil glaze techniques at Santa Fe University. Early in the semester I went home with a headache and nausea. I hadn’t exposed myself to anything unusual that day. The next morning, I woke up with what felt like a hangover, and from that day on I could no longer set foot in my painting classroom without feeling sick the rest of the day. I also could no longer enter my own studio! I had become sensitized to the solvents and cleaning agents used in my painting practice. Is it possible ? A painter who became allergic to paint?

My life turned upside-down, as I learned to cope with the sudden onset of these new physical ailments related to my work. Aside from the emotions of fearing I may never paint again, I became physically sick when I walked down the detergent isle at a grocery store, entered a mechanic shop, or inadvertently set foot in a room where someone was painting their nails. On the worst day, I simply walked past the janitor cleaning cart at my daughter’s school and subsequently felt sick for hours afterwards. As well as nausea and headache, I had the new experience of my reptilian brain’s fight or flight response, along with “brain fog,” which felt like early onset dementia.
You can imagine it was quite a ride.

Enter Monona Rossol – Industrial Hygienist

Thankfully I had guidance from chemist, artist, and one of our nation’s leading experts in industrial hygiene, Monona Rossol. I met Monona when she was consulting SFUAD, and then by chance sat next to her on the red-eye to New York. She is a national treasure and worth looking up.

I revamped the painting studios at the school — switched students to a solvent-free painting medium and canola oil for washing brushes. However, couldn’t get the results I wanted with glaze layers , so I continued to teach a traditional technique that required small amounts of mineral spirits to build “lean to fat” glaze layers of oil. To avoid nausea and headaches, I finished up my last semester teaching at SFUAD with the students painting en plein air.

solvent free medium
Gamblin Solvent Free Fluid and ‘Gamsol’ OMS, with 65%, 70%, 75% solutions

I changed my own studio practices to solvent-free mediums when possible, minimizing solvents when necessary for glaze techniques. I installed intake and exhaust fans for whole studio air exchange (general exhaust). I also built an open faced paint booth for point of contact (local exhaust). In addition to ventilation I use a respirator with organic vapor cartridges for oil mediums and cartridges that absorb ammonia and formaldehyde when priming with gesso and painting with acrylics.

Many people wrongly believe acrylics are safe and do not off-gas toxic chemicals. Acrylics off-gas ammonia/amines and formaldehyde. Monnona Rossol recommends using local exhaust ventilation when working with acrylics. For an in-depth look at artist materials and studio practices please purchase Monona Rossol’s book: The Artist’s Complete Health and Safety Guide

Monona is a remarkable woman. She’s a living treasure who flies around the country at the request of opera houses, movie sets and art schools. She walks in, points out a safety issues and tells them to shut it down until they are fixed. Not a woman to mess with!

 

open faced paint booth
Open faced paint/spray booth in my studio

Proper Air Ventilation

General ventilation, put simply, is all the air in the studio should be completely exchanged in a certain amount of time, based on the toxicity and solvent used. Two fans are required. One for supply and one for exhaust. Ideally the exhaust is on the painting wall or close to the painting wall. One can google search a “room air change calculator” to figure out what size CFM fans are recommended for one’s studio.

A room air change calculator is to get a general idea, but the real formula used for calculating room size and CFM fans depends on the toxicity of the solvent.

Attached here is the real formula…  Notice that the TLV is in the denominator, so the more toxic the solvent, the greater the rate of exchange. Friedrich-vent-calculations

Respirator and Proper Cartridges

Cartridges are selective in what they capture and in very limited in amounts.  That’s true of all carbon filters including Organic Vapor OV cartridges.  The cartridges are only good for about 8 hours once you open the package.  If you only wear them 2 hours, you need to take them off the respirator, put them in Ziploc bags until you use them again.  Total hours are of use is about 8.

When I’m using odorless mineral spirits, final picture varnishes and other oil based mediums and solvents I use a general OV cartridge. The standards require them to be pretty uniform, so any major manufacturer’s OV cartridge should do it.safer studio practices

Also, I still get brain fog even when subjected to off gassing acrylics  so I use a respirator in additions to exhaust. If you are as sensitive as I am and want to purchase the right respirator cartridge here is the proper 3M cartridge for acrylics:
3M Multi Gas/Vapor Cartridge 6006 -ammonia  and formaldehyde

Avoid the Chemical Agents that Caused the Problem in the First Place!

One of the known, and more obvious, cures to chemical sensitivity is to stay away from chemicals. For nearly six months, I spent as much time as possible in fresh air, both hiking and skiing. I relied on a surplus of paintings in my studio to sustain my income. After the initial 6 month break from painting I re-entered my studio with caution and learned to separate my fears from symptoms, and over the years gained the ability to recognize brain-fog, which is the first symptom to set in, before nausea and headaches.

“Non-Toxic” Doesn’t Always Mean Not Toxic

“Non-toxic” is a misleading standard in our greed driven economy,
because non-toxic often means not-tested. One must learn to read a MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet, when it comes to choosing materials to work with, especially if they become incorporated into long term painting habits. Many products which claim to be non-toxic haven’t gone through the process of proper testing. Manufacturers can state “not-tested” on their MSDS sheet and get away with advertising it as non-toxic. A pregnant woman using some of these “non-toxic solvents” can result in permanent neurological and learning issues with her baby!

All solvents are toxic. That’s why they work so well. It doesn’t matter if it was made from lemons, lavender or mineral sprits. Some solvents are less toxic than others. Gamblin’s OMS odorless mineral spirits will make me feel sick in just a few hours of exposure if I don’t take precautions. I choose to continue to use the product, but I use it sparingly, with proper ventilation and respirator with OV cartridges.

Water-Miscible Oils

Other artists have found water-miscible oils to be the perfect solution. The oils have some –OH (hydroxy) groups added onto their structure which makes them somewhat soluble in water.  The finished work has been looked at technically by a conservator at the Library of Congress and the final painting is just fine in terms of archival quality. I’ve tested them for my own work and with my students. The results are perfectly good for almost all painting techniques. The oils with water alone are a good not-toxic solution. Artists wanting to use glaze layer techniques, working from lean to fat will need to take precautions. In order to increase the fat, one must add a painting medium (as opposed to just more water), and all mediums are made with solvents. So we’re back to the original problem.

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)

When a strange and difficult health issue comes along, it is often difficult to diagnose and one may even wonder if it’s really happening. A dear friend once asked me if it’s possible my Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is psychosomatic. After some thought… I replied yes. The root words, “psycho” mind and “soma” body are both a play.

I’m not an overly neurotic person, and I have over 25 years of meditation practice to thank for that. However strange syndromes like MCS are not the result of a single phenomena. There is a symphony of mental and physical contributing factors at play. Though it was in an instant that I became sensitive, and it was an acute and somewhat extreme event, I imagine there was a culmination of events over the years. There are environmental factors such as having been surrounded by paint and paint fumes for three decades. Included in environmental factors is diet and travels. There’s also the stress of providing for my family with the economic uncertainty of being an artist. Medical research estimates stress is the root cause of 90% of illnesses and disease.

MCS: Culmination of Events and Influences

I’ve had acute and general injuries over the years. Some of the seemingly acute injuries were actually the result of long term habits. As an example, when I tore my MCL a few years ago, I couldn’t help take note that the martial arts event which tore the ligament was not remarkable or dramatic. After finishing a year of physical therapy,  I had a Tai Chi teacher point out that my knee problem was not a knee problem at all. It was a hip and ankle problem. Inflexible hips and ankles created stress on my knee in everyday walking and movement routines. The injury was the last straw.

Why do I point this out? MCS can be a culmination of stress, diet and for me, a gut problem.  A doctor friend recommended a battery of tests related to my gut and found that I had Giardia hiding in the folds of my intestines. This could have been a carry over from travels or camping trips.

Diet and Colon Health

I eliminated dairy and wheat from my diet, which had many additional benefits.  My tennis elbow went away, my back problems went away and I can breathe easier at night. Dairy and wheat do not cause inflammation for everyone, but they certainly did for me. Elimination diets are easy and free to try. With a little discipline one can discover which foods cause problems for one’s body.

You can check out this simple Elimination Diet handout from my alma mater University of Wisconsin at Madison.

I also did a gentle 6 month colon cleanse. The friend who recommended it suffered from fibromyalgia. She attributed this cleanse to being able to get out of bed and on with her life. Whether or not this colon cleanse is for you, it’s not expensive to try out. The cleanse was developed by Dr Robert Gray who set out to make an easy to use, gentle, inexpensive colon cleanse that would not interfere with ones workday. It requires no special diet. There’s a bulking agent powder, and tablets which lift up the calcified mucoid lining in our large intestine. One theory (I’m not a doctor and have no idea what I’m talking about) is the calcified lining not only reduces efficient digestion of healthy nutrients, it also blocks chemicals from properly dumping into the large intestine to be eliminate out the body. I have no clue if any of this is true, I just know when I did the colon cleanse, stuff came out that smelled about 40 years old. I won’t go into detail. Here’s the cleanse. I you choose to try it, buy the little booklet that explains what you’re doing, why and how to do it: Holistic Horizons Intestinal Cleanse

I don’t know anyone who works there. I have no affiliation with their product. I just found it to be helpful. My supportive wife Kim Richardson, did the colon cleanse along side me, and she also enjoyed health benefits and fun conversation around what came out that day.

Exercise and Martial Arts

Over the years I sought the healing council of friends and experts in their field, which ultimately lead me to the joyful journey of qi-gong and  tai chi. It goes without saying that exercise is related to overall health and wellbeing. I made point to promote exercise at the art schools where I taught. I’m not sure when the concept started that artists are allowed to be unhealthy and die young started, but I certainly want to end it. Here’s a more in depth radio interview with about my martial arts journey and how it related to my art practice with John Shannon on KSFR.

The reason I went into depth on this topic is I have encountered so many artists that have been debilitated by MCS and art practice related health issues. Unfortunately most of my colleagues find themselves only more sensitive so solvents and chemicals. I certainly had to put on the brakes with the amount of time I am in my studio, but I am constantly working with finding balance and able to create at a pace suitable to me. Events in my life have me convinced this is a shared dream, and any situation can be transformed. Don’t give up!

I have rules around my diet, studio practice and lifestyle, and I no longer wonder, Will I feel sick today? Also during the time away from my studio, I was able to reflect on my work and put new energy into my vision and career.

Resources:

Disclaimer: each of us is responsible for our own well-being and health and safety. I am sharing my experience to serve as a guidepost or starting point but I’m not a doctor nor an industrial hygienist. Please do your own research!

To know more about my work and vision: artist statement, and essay on The Artistic Thinking Process.

 

29 Replies to “A Painter Who Became Allergic to Paint?”

  1. so glad you found the answer to your feeling sick, willy…not your paints but your studio neighbors’ cleaning.
    a friend of mine, who had painted with oils for 30 years, did become very allergic to the solvents and, even after installing a whole air filtering system, he found he could not paint. so, he worked with grumbacher to develop an oil like paint without having to use solvents.

    1. It’s amazing how commonplace it is for artists and people in roofing, house painting, construction, theater and other fields to become sensitized to toxic solvents and cleaners. It’s also disappointing that art schools do not take this more seriously. If we were working with the exact same products in a university science lab, proper ventilation and other health and safety issues would be a priority.
      I’m familiar with the Grumbacher water based oil paints, and we experimented with them in my class. They are quite good for certain types of painting. They tend to dry darker than when wet, but that’s manageable. The place where they don’t work is if the artist wants to build up transparent glaze layers. The pigment has to end up suspended in a dried oil film, and water simply evaporates. So one can still do thin layers, but not glaze layers.
      The solvent free medium I use is made by Gamblin and is new since just last year. The technology is catching up to where painters can work in less toxic environments. It will take some time for the culture to catch up. Unbelievable that when I was in undergrad we were working with turpentine and Damar etc.
      One of the reasons I wrote this, was to advocate for safer studio practices.
      Best to you!

  2. Willie! This TOTALLY happened to me! I had MANY years (from teen print-making where we cleaned plates in solvent-soaked wood chips, through my jobs, as sign painter and house painter and cabinet-shop lacquer sprayer, etc…) culminating in an extremely unwise episode working on my hotrod. I woke up in full-on allergic response, my eyes swollen shut. It took years of careful backing away from many of the materials that I used and loved. One thing that was super interesting-I developed an almost dog-like sense of smell! I could smell if someone had cleaned their fingernail polish off with acetone polish remover! It’s because you get so paranoid about being exposed….
    Anyway, it does get better. Stay vigilant.

    1. A mutual friend told you went through that. Considering the “materials” you use today, which includes life giving substances and mental/emotional/spiritual phenomena, I’m curious if your bodily response was partially what brought you to where you are today – I look forward to that conversation.
      Initially, the brain fog, and memory loss was the scariest part, because I didn’t know if there was an undo button for that. There is.
      I chose to understand that I am healthy, but my body had had its fill of toxic solvents and cleaning agents. So I focused on detoxifying with foods, sauna, and other methods, immune strengthening, and avoiding toxic chemicals and toxic environments.
      I feel lucky that I had Manona Rossol and others to guide me through the maze.

  3. That’s quite a story, Willy, and I am encouraged by your ending! I too had a close friend, college professor, who developed a reaction to turps — long ago, before alternative solvents were around. She sadly did give up oil painting and I’ve always remembered this. She was such an incredible oil painter… I’ll mention that we often overlook our skin, which is a permeable and vulnerable organ. I use a barrier creme in the studio, in addition to the other protective layers. Makes a difference! Be well Willy!

  4. I’m sorry you had this experience. I’ve avoided oil paints because I simply don’t like the smell. I use watercolor or acrylic paints instead, but now I’m worried by your comment about the ammonia in acrylic paints. My studio is a spare bedroom that doubles as a place for foster children to sleep. I move my easel and materials out of the room when we have overnight guests, but now I will look into this further. Thank you for the heads up!

    1. Hi Diane,
      Golden’s SDS sheet shows Golden acrylics have ammonia and Propylene Glycol
      You definitely do not want to have anyone sleeping in the same room as acrylic paintings that are drying. If the paintings are dry and you air out the room then my guess is it’s fine, but that’s an unprofessional guess. Best to do real research.

  5. So sorry (and now happy) for you. Monona is our expert in health and safety in my field of art conservation, and she is incredible. I’m so glad she helped you!

  6. Thank you for sharing your story Willy Bo and your journey to overcome your illness. I am sure it will help others who are faced with the same physical challenges.

  7. So pleased you are well and back to a full life of art and recreation with family and friends. I threw out all my cleaning supplies about 3years ago. I’m using vinegar or other natural ingredients exclusively. No more nail salons or toxic environments physically and spiritually. Thank you for sharing your story. You are always an inspiration.

  8. What a terrible experience… but it is good to hear that you are on the mend. Chemical fumes can be a serious matter in the schools; I have a close friend who taught classical photography in a new art building at a college in the Midwest. She became similarly ill, and they found it was due to the fact that the builder had installed a recirculating vent in the photo lab/darkroom instead of a true exhaust vent. She was diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivity left the college, and spent 6 months in a tranquil convent in Italy. After her return to the US, she and her family moved to Taos where they built a chemical-free adobe home….

  9. Hey thanks for sharing. As you know, I am a fairly avowed oil devotee BUT after spending 10 days at the Golden acrylic factory and artist residency in upstate NY, I became convinced that painters are barely scraping the surface of what’s possible with this (less than 100 years old!) material… If you ever want an introduction to the kind folks there, I highly recommend a visit and conversation. In all my years of being a practicing artist, I have never seen such dedication to health and safety + environment as from this company. AND they routinely develop new products specifically for painters who need the paint to behave in a very specific way. Custom paint, custom mediums…they do it. It’s how the company started, actually… delivering tubes to painters in the Bowery who wanted their paint to do certain things. Anyway, just a few thoughts for you. Blessings. C.

    1. I appreciate the feedback.
      We are lucky to have health and safety as a priority for many of the higher quality products out today. I spent hours on the phone with Gamblin last year. We are still far from the day when a pregnant woman can take a painting class. The complex regulations regarding the handling of art materials is not in our favor, and companies are not obligated to be on the cutting edge of studying toxicity, or to go above and beyond the mediocre regulation laws.
      SDS sheets will show most acrylic paints are made with ammonia, so ventilation is still a consideration (not as much as with solvent based oil mediums).
      Monona Rossol has a very thorough guide for artist studio practices:
      https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Complete-Health-Safety-Guide/dp/1581152043

  10. What an awful experience. I am so sorry to hear that you have been struggling with this. This is a strong wake up warning to others. It’s wonderful that you have adapted what you can use in your art and that you can continue your work. So glad that you are feeling better and have discovered what you need to do to stay healthy. Best to you!!

  11. Wow Willy! Thank you for sharing such a moving testimony. I’m glad you are still able to paint again and your solutions (pardon the pun) will help others. When I was working on the documentary about Vietnamese in the nail industry, I discovered women who were combating the same issue. There is now the CA Healthy Nails Collaborative (with a chapter in other States) that is actively helping advocate and educate workers. Unfortunately although there are some alternatives for the workers, they are not fully toxic free. So they either have to get sick or quit. It’s so hard when it’s your livelihood! Or in your case you livelihood and life expression has an artist. Congrats again on transforming your situation. A Buddhist lesson that really put you to the test. Much love to you and the family.

  12. Willy. Good to hear that you are feeling better and that you found a way to continue painting. Hug from Uli

  13. Hello Willy
    Many folks around us have allergies. I use unscented laundry soap and avoid dryer conditioners (anti static cling) because the scented kind raise an allergic breathing reaction in about 15 minutes after putting on a freshly washed shirt. This has not happened in quite a few years, possibly because of the supplemental minerals and vitamins that I take daily. Most Americans are deficient in magnesium, which can lead to a variety of illnesses. See Dr. Carolyn Dean, “The Miracle of Magnesium”. Also Dr. Andrew Saul’s website, DoctorYourself.com . He has a book of the same name. I believe that if the body has all of the essential building blocks, it will heat itself. When it is deficient, illnesses like allergies can be triggered. Also see Dr. Joel Wallach’s book “Lets Play Doctor”, and “Health and Nutrition Secrets” by Dr. Russell L. Blaylock. Good luck with it, and long life to you. Om Mani Pedme Hung. Regards, Tore

  14. I am finally reading this post. What an experience – to suddenly have to re-think your environment around what you love doing (and make a living at) and how you can continue in good health. I’m glad you found multiple solutions, and took some time away to heal as well. Here’s to more beautiful works in the future! Hugs Willy!

  15. Glad to hear things improved. I, too, suffered chemical over-exposure. Was very, very sick for ten years (debilitated for first 2.5 years). Doctor discovered I have a genetic polymorphism called MTHFR (very common), which means the person has difficulty detoxifying environmental toxins (paints, exhausts, smoke, etc). Most people eliminate them easily via normal elimination pathways. She prescribed weekly IV therapy to detoxify the toxic load I’d been unable to detoxify for years. 75,000 mg Vitamin C every other week in an IV, and huge doses of glutathione on alternating weeks. The improvement in my health has been life-changing. I still have to avoid toxins, yet I feel much better. Hope this helps in case you feel you may still carry a toxic load in your body/brain.

    1. Hi Gwendolyn,

      I looked up MTHFR gene, and the going scientific community appears to find nothing conclusive about the genetic variant and health issues… of course, there is also nothing conclusive about MCS either, and I experienced that one for myself.

      We are at once in the future, a time where our medicine is incredibly precise and nearly miraculous, and in the past… some dark age we humans will look back on one day, shaking our heads with disbelief that with all our technological innovations, we managed to poison our waterways and air with chemicals, that we poisoned our bodies with fat, salt, sugar and processed foods, and that we so ignorantly failed to see the big picture, that we are infact a part to a whole.

  16. Important question: I have eliminated all mediums, painting “straight from the tube.” But my studio has no windows (only skylights). Many finished paintings using every kind of medium, sitting on the floor, etc. stayed out of studio for a week, all symptoms gone. Spent time in the studio just studying, no painting. Symptoms returned (brain fog, headache, etc). Are all these paintings out gassing? Do I have to get them all out of my studio?

    1. Hi Linda,

      Obviously something is causing a problem. A common misconception regarding off-gassing is that it ceases once the paint and mediums are dry to the touch, or if there is no detectable odor. Study at a cafe for a few weeks or take the paintings out for a few weeks. It’s common sense. When you go back to painting, you can check out Gamblin’s “solvent free medium” or M Graham’s “Walnut oil medium”. Both are extremely low in toxicity, and can be used to thin the paint a little if your style is to paint straight from the tube.

      I personally paint glaze layers, so it’s not quite as simple for me. Good luck to you!

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