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Health hazards in one-hour photo store

2005

I work in a one hour photo and we deal with silver recovery there. there was a recent rumor that dealing with it can cause cancer. I can't find anything direct or what I'm looking for on sites....

Is there any danger in dealing with silver recovery, and if so what and how... meaning what could be an outcome and is it worse to inhale or touch or... etc. etc.

thanks for your time

Amanda M Deel
Employee - Centralia, WA, United States

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First of two simultaneous responses --

What are you touching and how are you recovering the silver? You must give more detail as to what you are being exposed to. Where did the rumour start - perhaps the source can tell you what you need to know.

Trevor Crichton
R&D practical scientist
Chesham, Bucks, UK
2005

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Second of two simultaneous responses -- 2005

Grab the MSDS sheets for the chemicals you are using - these should be in a clearly labelled book readily available to you, and you should have been trained on their use and location. The world not being perfect, you can also request them from whomever you get your chemicals from or look them up on-line if you know the chemical name.

MSDS = Material Safety Data Sheet. Once you read those, you'll know pretty much everything you need to regarding whether or not the stuff your working with is nasty or not. Any listed carcinogens (cancer causing chemicals) will be noted in plain english.

Now, it is fairly likely that something you work with is nasty (possibly not carcinogenic, but still nasty), that - in and of itself - isn't a bad thing. However, your boss should be providing training for you in how to avoid getting the stuff on you and what to do about it if you do.

Good luck.

Jim Gorsich
Compton, California, USA