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Comment by torginus | Hacker News Reader

Isn't painting one of the most hazardous hobbies? You're working with questionable chemicals all the time. Even the official Citadel stuff (which I think is reasonably OK most of the time) needs to be treated with a healthy dose of respect, but it's so expensive youre constatly tempted to shop around.

Even then, there were cases of a certain hue disappearing from the lineup (much to the frustration of painters), due it it being banned, because it was too toxic.

There a handful of high-profile 40k and GW people who died in their 30s-40s with illnesses probably related to exposure to this stuff.

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Do you have a reference for this? It's a very serious accusation.

The paints are water based acrylic paints, sold as age 12+ in Europe

Apologies, I'm kind of basing this on half-remembered forum posts from a decade ago.

For the first, there was a certain color that was discontinued due to issues with the pigment (I'm fairly certain it was Citadel and acrylic) and when it came back the consensus was the old one was much better.

As for the person who died, I'm certain I remember Alan Bligh, who was the chief writer behind Horus Heresy. Poor guy died from a fast acting form of cancer at 43, and he was known to spend a lot of time painting minis. This is just a rumor, but he wouldn't be the only one who developed health issues.

Oh that's really interesting. I hadn't thought about the health side of painting. My assumption was that the Citadel stuff would be fine in moderate use. I am aware that a solid mask should be used when applying a primer or with glue though.

I will look into the painting risks here.

I'm not an expert on this, and you might be right on the acrylic paints, but modeles use a lot more stuff (solvents, primers, glues, resin) when building and painting minis is dangerous as they often use toxic solvents with VOCs. Anything that comes in a spray can definitely does.

I'd definitely consult an expert on how and if can you make this hobby kid-safe.

Eh there's no real reason to wear a mask when using glue. Spray primer I can see more, but glue isn't getting into the air like primer is. In any case I doubt very much if the acrylic paints used in 40k are unsafe to use.

for your own and everyone's sake, please don't make unqualified statements like this. Glue toxicity goes from relatively benign (the white stuff children use at school), to 'literally has the skull symbol on the packaging' (some industrial glues used in electronics and clothing).

A rule of thumb is to do this stuff in a well-ventilated area. Theres a million kinds of glues Wood glue is mostly safe, superglue is generally okay, epoxies are not.

And yes, paints and solvents are the kinds of chemicals that the common man will encounter the nastiest chemicals (VOCs) which can permanently and irreparably damage your brain. Not immediately, but depending on how much you use it, and how much precaution you take, this is definitely something to be aware of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_solvent-induced_enceph...

I think the claim is FUD — or at least far, far beyond what a child would come across, e.g. professional resins, airbrushing/spraying solvent-based paints indoors etc.

These are paints specifically marketed towards children, produced by a large company in a European country with a strong record of safety etc.

Spray primer should be applied outside by an adult (as it says on the can).

:( I truly regret the time I spent looking up the info in responding to yor comment. I shouldn't have wasted so much effort on a person like you.

You made a wild and massively exaggerated claim based on a rumour.

No, painting isn't "one of the most hazardous hobbies". That's something like caving, or rock climbing, or skiing, or diving, or horse riding, or BASE jumping.

And no, they aren't "questionable chemicals". They're considered safe for use by the UK, EU, USA and everyone else, as well as Games Workshop, schools, etc.

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