Toxicity of Acrylic Paint?
Reader question
I have wanted to study painting (as a hobby) but have stayed away from it because of the toxicity issue associated with oil paint solvents. Now I want to try acrylics but have read that the paints themselves are toxic. Any comments?
Response
It is my understanding that most acrylic paints are not toxic to humans—when used for typical acrylic painting purposes—because they are water-based. The acrylic colors that contain toxic chemicals will have it marked on the label—these include cadmium, cobalt, manganese, chromium, and lead. They only become toxic when used for airbrushing, or when sanded, or if large amounts are accidentally ingested. For the most part, when you use them for typical acrylic painting purposes (applying them with a brush to the canvas), then they won't be harmful to you.
If your main concern is about your health, acrylics are generally quite safe to use when they are used in the proper manner. Since they are water-based, they are easy to clean with soap and water, without the use of any toxic cleaning chemicals. This is one reason why I favor acrylic paint over oil paints.
It’s worth noting that if you’re concerned about the environment, you’ll need to take extra care with cleaning your paintbrushes to ensure that the acrylic paint particles don’t get washed down the sink where they will get into the water supply and wind up in the ocean. For more info, you can check out this eco-friendly solution for cleaning acrylic paint off of paintbrushes and bear in mind that you will need to take extra care with the acrylic paint colors that do contain the toxic chemicals listed above.
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These days, some conscientious paint manufacturers like Liquitex and Utrecht (scroll down to see the cadmium-free paints) have begun to create new non-toxic versions of those colors—for example, a color that looks and performs almost exactly the same as Cadmium Yellow but contains no cadmium. The non-cadmium paints work so similarly to the cadmium paints that artists in a test weren’t able to tell the difference!
Best wishes and have fun painting!
