Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

You want a digital program which will duplicate the smell, Tracey?

Now - THAT's a gas!!!!!!

ialvarez50

There are people like me who enjoys creating images by using my brain, my knowledge in photography and my hands. Other people like yourself enjoys heaving someone else do everything for them and then claim me as their own. Why people restore old cars? Why paint with brushes? Why make pottery?

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Who are you replying to? We won't know unless you choose "quote reply". I can't see a post for which this would be an appropriate reply.

User ID

Remember the smell of brown toner ?
Really, how can one ever forget !

Ciba bleach, my boss never considered
that he was wearing permeable contact
lenses. Freaked him right out when we
took on AO as a client, and I read him
the precautions for wearers ! Basement
lab had no exhaust blowers :-(

.

Skiextreme2 Loc: Northwest MA

When I took photography (B&W same as you), we were told by the instructor that he dumped all the used chemicals down the drain, as the college was on a public sewer system and the developing and printing chems were non-toxic.

He did say that if you used a septic system, that was another story and because his home was on septic, he brought his home chemicals to the college to get rid of.

Color chemicals are much different and (20 years ago), were toxic and not allowed to be dumped in the public sewer system. We didn't do color, but the question was asked and answered.

You could call B&H and ask them, as they deal with the same chemicals we used.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

There is a recurring tendency for some folks, on this site, to disbelieve and encourage others to disbelieve and disregard safety warnings. I am not a chemist or an electronics engineer but I have long experience with photochemistry and certain photo-electronic equipment and understand some of the potential dangers of these things if they are carelessly handled.

Perhaps a few amateur photographers with home darkrooms are not gonna poison the world but there are the cumulative effects of all the stuff that folks pour down the drain or flush down the toilet that has caused issues or are known pollutants and are dangerous. Some have resulted and has led to malfunctions in sewage and sanitation systems and have compromised the safety and integrity of water supplies. Besides photo chemicals, there have been reports of automotive fluids, motor oil, antifreeze, dry cleaning, and household cleaning fluids, pharmaceuticals, insecticides, condoms, and a whole bunch of stuff that is not biodegradable.

It doesn't take that much effort to properly neutralize and/or dilute photo chemicals prior to disposal and refrain from irresponsible dumping of the substances that are actually where t it is ill-advised or prohibited. This is especially sensible if your home is supplied with well water and/or utilizes a septic tank for drainage. These can also have adverse effects on agriculture.

Also, remember- this is a publicly accessible site and can be read anywhere in the world. I can't possibly know every possible governmental regulation pertaining to waste disposal, the conditions that prevail in industrialized areas- think about Flint Michigan! I have no knowledge as to everyone's individual experience and expertise in handling chemicals so when I write advice, I always err on the safe side.

An in-law of mine is a hydroelectric engineer. He started his career as a lineman working on high tension wires. I asked him about the obvious dangers and the possibility of electrocution. He told me that the rookies never get hurt or killed but it's the old-timers who get a bit flippant with safety procedures who end up getting zapped. You hear this all the time, "I've been doing that for years and nothing ever happened...", that is until it HAPPENS!

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

Some great points!

On an individual basis, the casual discarding of chemicals, fluids and non-biodegradable trash doesn't seem like an insurmountable problem to our ecosystem... until you understand there are millions of people on this earth who are thinking the same thing.

Although I don't do dark room chemicals, there are plenty of everyday household items that I purchase with an eye to how much it works for the given task and what is the environmental impact it has long term. I have a collection of fluids, etc. that I accumulate for taking to my local hazardous waste program.

I don't understand and am surprised how some can assuage their guilt by saying what they do dump is so small or adding more water to a given chemical will so dilute it that there isn't any problem... really? Water is part of the earth's ecology and goes through various stages and transformations. Chemicals basically do not, they just accumulate. This kind of thinking is why we have food chain poisoning in fish and wildlife. When I was a kid, I didn't have to worry about the fish I caught and ate... now pollution levels vary and you see cautions about how much can be consumed or if it can.

I certainly hope the folks who don't casually dump are in the majority compared to the idiots who don't care beyond their own nose, because they are probably not going to change.

Chris T Loc: from England across the pond to New England

Never used it, USER … always, when I wanted brown tones. I switched to Portriga-Rapid - brown enough for me. Funnily, enough, though - even, to this day - I've never installed an exhaust fan in my darkroom.

ialvarez50

There are people like me who enjoys creating images by using my brain, my knowledge in photography and my hands. Other people like yourself enjoys heaving someone else do everything for them and then claim them as their own. Why people restore old cars? Why paint with brushes? Why make pottery?

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

And digital photography doesn't involve using your brain and your knowledge? Nobody else does my digital photography, so yes I claim it as my own. The basic photographic knowledge of lighting, exposure, composition, lens choice, etc. is the same for digital as it is for film. When I went from film to digital there was a sharp learning curve for post processing which took me a couple years to get up to speed on. Digital post processing takes just as much knowledge and creativity as film does.

Stephan G

"And the women were muscular!" Try hand cranking that dog-gone wet-cloth laundry squeezer every other day. The Model T cranking was a breeze(r) in comparison. (You couldn't pop clutch start the laundry squeezer like the Model T.)



PS. I have done both.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

In every case that I have specific knowledge of, dilution to meet discharge requirements is specifically prohibited. There are two reasons. The first is that the additional water eventually evaporates or is otherwise removed from the effluent, leaving every bit of it somewhere to be a problem. The other is that the dilution consumes a large amount of clean water that otherwise would not have been used, creating additional load for the treatment plant.

While some materials can safely be disposed of down the drain, many cannot. It is never OK to send metals down the drain.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

This is the right answer though I would not say laughable. They will dilute very rapidly. Only a few chemicals are of concern. The hydroquinone and Metol will be reduced very quickly. Sulfite and thiosulfate will oxidze to sulfate. The various acids and bases are weak so will not change the pH of the sewerage. Silver is probably the only heavy metal but is present in such low concentration as to be insignificant. It is actually bound up with the thiosulfate in a rather stable complex.

I would worry more about industrial effluents than your own darkroom waste.

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Probably the only metal we are talking about here is silver in an amount that is probably less than what leaches out of the pipes to and from your house. It is also probably less than the metals that we excrete daily. By that token, what would you do with the iron from the hemoglobin, selenium, sodium, magnesium, chromium and other metals present in human and pet waste?