This book by Monona Rossol is a very good reference to have when looking at safety concerns.
I used it to help me decide about welders lenses to use with my kiln.I used the 2nd edition….from the library initially and now I am waiting for this newly revised 3rd edition to arrive.
http://www.amazon.com/Artists-Complete-Health-Safety-Guide/dp/1581152043/
Edit: While double checking my link for this book I found a good article by Zora Sweet Pinney that supports concern about the author’s negative slant and possible over emphasis on hazards.
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/waac/wn/wn13/wn13-2/wn13-212.html
I agree that if material is presented that sounds like an over emphasis on warnings you should not automatically refrain from doing what you had planned. However, it is the responsibility of the artist once they are made aware of the hazzard to investigate the proper precautions needed in order to go forward safely.
While I respect the opinion of the reviewer in the link above I still believe that having a good reference as a place to start is an invaluable tool. And also allows the artist to casually browse for information and help us realize that there are precautions we should all be using….
Many artists are already well aware of potential hazards – but we should all keep in mind that information on health concerns do change. Additionally many of us migrate in our interests over time and as we move into new (for us) areas of artistic endevours we should be checking that we are usng appropriate safety measures for what we are currently doing. Knowledge about health and safety should not remain stagnant any more than creativity.
