OK, so I'm watching the Tie Dye 101 DVD because I'm a dork.
What's dorky about that? I think it's a good video.
Anyways these guys are acting like these chemicals and dyes are the most dangerous substances in the world. Gloves, masks, not allowing household items to touch any of them, never using the same microwave for food EVER after exposing it to dyes... Are they over reacting and making up this problem or is this stuf really toxic and dangerous?
We don't
know that the fiber reactive dyes are hazardous, except for causing allergies and asthma in some people who breathe the dye powder. We just do not like the idea of finding out in twenty years or so that we really ought to have been more careful. It probably won't happen, but wouldn't you rather be prudent? You should be careful with all household chemicals. Some household chemicals are known to be more dangerous than our dyes, in particular chlorine bleach, which is often used carelessly in cleaning, or oven cleaner, or the formaldehyde used in cheap furniture.
We now know that many of the
all-purpose dyes (RitŪ is an example of all-purpose dye) sold in the 1970s and previous decades contained carcinogenic dyes derived from benzidine. (Reference:
Benzidine and Dyes Metabolized to Benzidine [PDF].) People who worked in the plants that manufactured these dyes had an increased risk of cancer as the result of frequent high level exposure. It's possible that some home users of those particular
direct dyes developed cancer twenty years later, as a result of using them incautiously, though of course their risk was lower if they were exposed to less.
We
think that all fiber reactive dyes, such as Procion MX dyes, are probably much safer than those old benzidine-based dyes. They haven't been adequately tested for us to be sure of this, however; that would require feeding them to a lot of test animals, an expensive process. So, just to be sensible, you need to avoid breathing or swallowing any of the dye powder, which means wear a dust mask when the dye jars are open or there is any undissolved dye around, wipe up all surfaces that might have had a tiny speck of dye land on them, cover multi-use counters with newspaper, and wear gloves to reduce skin exposure. Be very careful when using an airbrush for anything, dyes or paints, as the particles are very fine and tend to get inhaled. Even "non-toxic" paints are dangerous when inhaled.
The
known hazard of fiber reactive dyes is allergic sensitization. People who breathe too much dye powder sometimes become allergic to it. When that happens, they have to quit using that type of dye at all, forever. Continued exposure to an allergen, aftr the allergy develops, can cause serious asthma. It would be such a pain to have to give up using Procion MX dyes. Better to just use the dust mask until all the dye is dissolved, and the dye jars safely sealed up and put away.
We do not all take the same level of care when it comes to dyes. Personally, I am willing to use a clean microwave for food after it's been used to briefly heat a glass container of dissolved fiber reactive dye, if the container has been sealed with plastic, and the plastic has not blown off the top during heating. In my opinion, the dye contained under the plastic seal does not go anywhere. I'm not going to tell you that this is good laboratory practice, though. I would never do this with more toxic dyes such as
basic dyes or
naphthol dyes, which in fact I do not even allow in my kitchen.
Paula
