Gamblin Artists Colors is an interesting company. Gamblin's website provides outside resources for toxicity and environmental impacts of materials such as the MSDS (or Material Safety Data Sheet) and other resources should the consumer be interested but not know where to look.
I checked into Mineral Spirits. In the past few years, professors and friends have been recommending Gamsol claiming that it is a safer alternative and more environmentally friendly than Mineral Spirits. After looking at the MSDS report, I would mostly agree. Gamsol has a much higher boiling point, making it less likely to blow up. Awesome! It also mentioned that in it's pure form (meaning not having been mixed with paint) that it is not harmful to aquatic life. Great! Only I have no interest in buying Gamsol just to pour it in the ocean... I want to use it. And I am not sure I am comfortable thinking about fish swimming in Gamsol sea water. Although I recognize that I am a hypocrite in saying this because where is my waste ending up? Mainly the ocean.
I didn't feel resolved after just reading the MSDS, so I went further and found the Gamblin Studio Notes. They pointed something out for me. Gamsol is a petroleum distillate solvent. Petroleum distillate solvents include, but are not limited to, mineral spirits, kerosene, and white spirits all produced from crude oil. This alone was not that daunting to me. The part that strikes me is that Gamsol is distilled (or purified) mineral spirits. I am committed to finding a safer product. It is true that Gamsol is safer for me than Mineral spirits, in terms of flammability and inhalation. Let's suppose it is safer for the environment as well....
Big problem though! What happened to the gas that was extracted during the purification? Are both the act of distillation and using Gamsol over Mineral Spirits together more environmentally respectful than just using Mineral Spirits in the first place?
I don't know. I will look more into this tomorrow. Comments and arguments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment