B/W Photo Processing Dangerous or Harmful with Pregnancy?

(Jason) wrote in message . com...
Hello,

My wife and I recently found out she is pregnant. We're worried
something may have happened to our baby because she has been going to
school developing photos in a B/W lab.

Here's the gist of what happened: We've traced the conception date to
10/14. We found out today, which is 10/29. Her last visit to the
dark room was on the 24th, ~9 or 10 days after conception. Within
those ~10 days, she went to the dark room 4 times spending a total of
~8 hours in it. She did not use gloves and touched the solution with
her bare fingers. Quickly after touching the solution, she washed her
hands with water, no soap was used. Before the conception date, she's
spent the last 6 weeks in the dark room, maybe once or twice a week.

I already know how stupid we are for doing what we did, so please do
not lecture me on that. I would really like to know if we did any
harm to the baby and if there is anything we can do now besides pray.
Thank you for your help.

-Jason

From MSDS of 4-Aminophenol(p-aminophenol, para aminophenol) :

"Possible mutagen and teratogen"

"A teratogen is an agent that can cause malformations of an embryo or
fetus"

Metol and a few other very commonly used developing agent contains
Aminophenol.
If you happen to consult a doctor, please mention this.

As others have already mentioned, the quantity of the chemical that
might have been absorbed by the system is likey to be very small.

-Sreenath

"sreenath" wrote in message
om...

From MSDS of 4-Aminophenol(p-aminophenol, para aminophenol) :

"Possible mutagen and teratogen"

"A teratogen is an agent that can cause malformations of an embryo or
fetus"

Metol and a few other very commonly used developing agent contains
Aminophenol.
If you happen to consult a doctor, please mention this.

As others have already mentioned, the quantity of the chemical that
might have been absorbed by the system is likey to be very small.

-Sreenath

Yes, but remember, "the dose makes the poison" and it is only a "possible"
teratogen.

Normally, we do not get any of this stuff into our bodies at all. It is a
water-soluble compound that is not readily absorbed through the skin. Did
she drink the developer?

Of course the doctor will say to avoid possible teratogens. The real
question is how much of it is needed to produce an observable teratogenic
effect. Probably a gigantic amount, considering that they listed it as only
"possible." This would imply that large doses of it were fed to rats in an
experiment, and even then, the results were unclear.

sreenath wrote:

From MSDS of 4-Aminophenol(p-aminophenol, para aminophenol) :

"Possible mutagen and teratogen"

"A teratogen is an agent that can cause malformations of an embryo or
fetus"

Metol and a few other very commonly used developing agent contains
Aminophenol.
If you happen to consult a doctor, please mention this.

Without commenting on the toxicities of metol and p-aminophenol,
it's important to note that metol is a salt of
4-methylaminophenol, not 4-aminophenol. It really isn't correct
at all to say that metol 'contains' aminophenol just because the
chemical unit is there. That methyl group makes a big difference.

The only commercial developer I know of that contains
4-aminophenol is Rodinal.

Jordan

"Jordan Wosnick" wrote in message
...
sreenath wrote:

From MSDS of 4-Aminophenol(p-aminophenol, para aminophenol) :

"Possible mutagen and teratogen"

"A teratogen is an agent that can cause malformations of an embryo or
fetus"

Metol and a few other very commonly used developing agent contains
Aminophenol.
If you happen to consult a doctor, please mention this.

Without commenting on the toxicities of metol and p-aminophenol, it's
important to note that metol is a salt of 4-methylaminophenol, not
4-aminophenol. It really isn't correct at all to say that metol 'contains'
aminophenol just because the chemical unit is there. That methyl group
makes a big difference.

The only commercial developer I know of that contains 4-aminophenol is
Rodinal.

Good catch! And my vague recollection - which someone should look up to
confirm - is that metol is considerably the less toxic of the two.
Allergies to metol are common on the part of people who handle prints in the
developer with their hands. This fact tells me that there's nothing *else*
very dangerous about metol, because if people are (against recommendations)
coming into contact with enough of it to provoke an allergic reaction,
they're still not suffering other ill effects that we know of.

On 2 Nov 2004 04:02:42 -0800, (sreenath)
wrote:

As others have already mentioned, the quantity of the chemical that
might have been absorbed by the system is likey to be very small.

In the extreme.

Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.puresilver.org
Vote "No! for the status quo. Vote 3rd party !!

On 2 Nov 2004 04:02:42 -0800, (sreenath)
wrote:

As others have already mentioned, the quantity of the chemical that
might have been absorbed by the system is likey to be very small.

In the extreme.

Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.puresilver.org
Vote "No! for the status quo. Vote 3rd party !!

On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 08:35:42 -0500, "Michael A. Covington"
wrote:

Yes, but remember, "the dose makes the poison" and it is only a "possible"
teratogen.

Normally, we do not get any of this stuff into our bodies at all. It is a
water-soluble compound that is not readily absorbed through the skin. Did
she drink the developer?

Of course the doctor will say to avoid possible teratogens. The real
question is how much of it is needed to produce an observable teratogenic
effect. Probably a gigantic amount, considering that they listed it as only
"possible." This would imply that large doses of it were fed to rats in an
experiment, and even then, the results were unclear.

Do you have a copy of Merc ? You can look up pyrogallol and
find that people have died from exposure to it. Evidently it was used
as a dye and people submerged their arms into hot vats of pyro. Now
that's a dose !


Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.puresilver.org
Please remove the "_" when replying via email

On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 08:35:42 -0500, "Michael A. Covington"
wrote:

Yes, but remember, "the dose makes the poison" and it is only a "possible"
teratogen.

Normally, we do not get any of this stuff into our bodies at all. It is a
water-soluble compound that is not readily absorbed through the skin. Did
she drink the developer?

Of course the doctor will say to avoid possible teratogens. The real
question is how much of it is needed to produce an observable teratogenic
effect. Probably a gigantic amount, considering that they listed it as only
"possible." This would imply that large doses of it were fed to rats in an
experiment, and even then, the results were unclear.

Do you have a copy of Merc ? You can look up pyrogallol and
find that people have died from exposure to it. Evidently it was used
as a dye and people submerged their arms into hot vats of pyro. Now
that's a dose !


Regards,

John S. Douglas, Photographer - http://www.puresilver.org
Please remove the "_" when replying via email

On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 10:45:42 -0500, "Michael A. Covington"
wrote:


"Jordan Wosnick" wrote in message
...
sreenath wrote:

From MSDS of 4-Aminophenol(p-aminophenol, para aminophenol) :

"Possible mutagen and teratogen"

"A teratogen is an agent that can cause malformations of an embryo or
fetus"

Metol and a few other very commonly used developing agent contains
Aminophenol.
If you happen to consult a doctor, please mention this.

Without commenting on the toxicities of metol and p-aminophenol, it's
important to note that metol is a salt of 4-methylaminophenol, not
4-aminophenol. It really isn't correct at all to say that metol 'contains'
aminophenol just because the chemical unit is there. That methyl group
makes a big difference.

The only commercial developer I know of that contains 4-aminophenol is
Rodinal.

Good catch! And my vague recollection - which someone should look up to
confirm - is that metol is considerably the less toxic of the two.
Allergies to metol are common on the part of people who handle prints in the
developer with their hands. This fact tells me that there's nothing *else*
very dangerous about metol, because if people are (against recommendations)
coming into contact with enough of it to provoke an allergic reaction,
they're still not suffering other ill effects that we know of.

When I had my first job in a custom darkroom, I got a LOT of exposure
to Metol. I had my hands in all the developers and had the job of
mixing all the new batches, as well as disposing the old. I
eventually broke out in rashes that were most severe on my hands,
thenn tapering off up my arms onto my shoulders and chest. When I
finally went to an MD for diagnosis and treatment, he determined,
somehow, that I no longer was sensitive to Metol; it had somehow
burned out. What I was left with was a sensitivity to my own sweat,
which accompanied the Metol, in lower concentraions. I left the job,
and sure enough, the rashes subsided, but the small red bumps stayed
for almost 3 years. These were determined to be some of my sweat
sites that persisted and only gradually abated in their reactivity.

There were no other symptoms, that anyone could find.

Gloves and tongs are your friends.


Robert Vervoordt, MFA

On Tue, 2 Nov 2004 10:45:42 -0500, "Michael A. Covington"
wrote:


"Jordan Wosnick" wrote in message
...
sreenath wrote:

From MSDS of 4-Aminophenol(p-aminophenol, para aminophenol) :

"Possible mutagen and teratogen"

"A teratogen is an agent that can cause malformations of an embryo or
fetus"

Metol and a few other very commonly used developing agent contains
Aminophenol.
If you happen to consult a doctor, please mention this.

Without commenting on the toxicities of metol and p-aminophenol, it's
important to note that metol is a salt of 4-methylaminophenol, not
4-aminophenol. It really isn't correct at all to say that metol 'contains'
aminophenol just because the chemical unit is there. That methyl group
makes a big difference.

The only commercial developer I know of that contains 4-aminophenol is
Rodinal.

Good catch! And my vague recollection - which someone should look up to
confirm - is that metol is considerably the less toxic of the two.
Allergies to metol are common on the part of people who handle prints in the
developer with their hands. This fact tells me that there's nothing *else*
very dangerous about metol, because if people are (against recommendations)
coming into contact with enough of it to provoke an allergic reaction,
they're still not suffering other ill effects that we know of.

When I had my first job in a custom darkroom, I got a LOT of exposure
to Metol. I had my hands in all the developers and had the job of
mixing all the new batches, as well as disposing the old. I
eventually broke out in rashes that were most severe on my hands,
thenn tapering off up my arms onto my shoulders and chest. When I
finally went to an MD for diagnosis and treatment, he determined,
somehow, that I no longer was sensitive to Metol; it had somehow
burned out. What I was left with was a sensitivity to my own sweat,
which accompanied the Metol, in lower concentraions. I left the job,
and sure enough, the rashes subsided, but the small red bumps stayed
for almost 3 years. These were determined to be some of my sweat
sites that persisted and only gradually abated in their reactivity.

There were no other symptoms, that anyone could find.

Gloves and tongs are your friends.


Robert Vervoordt, MFA