Allergy with watercolors

[bpbijesh]

I am writing this with a very heavy heart.
I have an a watercolor artist and watercolors are my  passion .Unfortunately I have developed a severe allergy and sensitivity that i fall sick whenever i complete a painting . I develop a server heart burn and chest tightness and extra mucus secretion in my throat . It continues for a few days.
I have visited multiple doctors ( pulmonary , ent and gastroenterology ) , did extensive medical tests but they couldn’t identify the issue.
Regarding the painting below is what i have experimented so far.
1) Tried painting with M Graham , Daniel smith and Holbein brands of water colors . I have the same issue with all paints.
2) Tried doing monochromatic paints just using neutral tint using different paint brands . I have the same issue.
3)I always use a 3M respirator with an appropriate cartridge. I tried with different cartridges ( organic vapor , muti-gas ) with no luck.
I use Arches paper . I read from some of your forums that this could be irritating to a few . I will try to switch to a different paper ( thanks a lot for that suggestion) .
Other than that could you please suggest anything you can think of. I am ready to try anything if that can allow me to paint.
Thanks for hearing me. I would really appreciate your help and advise.

[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

Yes, some people have trouble with the smell of Arches, particularly old stock.

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[bpbijesh]

Thanks a lot . I am planning to change the paper and check.

[Macarona]

I think it is also the paper, the DS colors have no allergy-causing substances in it that have to be labeled. I’m not sure about the other two.

kind regards Macarona
Stay calm, you can not protect all people from mistakes they make. They should also be allowed to learn from mistakes and gain experience.
Especially financial mistakes.:angel: Keep calm, you can not prevent that there are not only reasonable suggestions from people. Specifically on the subject: only try and how long. Important topic: Please Save the Internet, that we can still share a lot of knowledge. # No articles 11 and 13!!!

[notsogood.]

I’m sorry you’re dealing with this, it must be very painful and upsetting. I also think it might be the paper, AFAIK most of watercolors don’t have allergens… ;|a

[E.J.H.]

Dislaimer, not a doctor. But have you considered you might be allergic to arabic gum?

I understand it’s rather rare, but possible. It would explain why every watercolor you tried triggers your allergy.

[Macarona]

Good idea, then the Watercolor from Qor might be suitable, they have a synthetic binder and e.g. Asian Watercolors like those from Kuretake can also be helpful, but they behave differently because they were originally intended for Japanese rice paper.

kind regards Macarona
Stay calm, you can not protect all people from mistakes they make. They should also be allowed to learn from mistakes and gain experience.
Especially financial mistakes.:angel: Keep calm, you can not prevent that there are not only reasonable suggestions from people. Specifically on the subject: only try and how long. Important topic: Please Save the Internet, that we can still share a lot of knowledge. # No articles 11 and 13!!!

[Newatercolorist]

I’m also allergic to (and i’m not joking) only Cotman watercolors. For a while i searched for special components in them, but nothing too special came out as a reason, just an ingredient (Dextrin) that is common in some other watercolors too, maybe in less amount? or maybe they are not saying all the ingredients?

Anyhow, back to your specific issue, and after what E.J.H said, i found this

“We have shown that gum arabic may cause occupational allergic rhinitis and asthma with urticaria symptoms. In this study the cases of occupational asthma in the candy factory appeared when there was an increase in the exposure. None of the patients had any previous atopic disease”

This is the full article

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ja/2011/841508/

If you go to an alergist, they have lots of substances to test people, maybe they have Gum Arabic to do a proper test?

Or, as they suggested, trying with just one tube of Qor may be the easiest way to discard Gum Arabic. Looks to me (playing by ear) that is either the Gum Arabic, or the Arches paper.

Cheers

Juan.

[Kaalia]

If you’ve only ever been using Arches paper, definitely try switching away from that.  I also had a bad allergic reaction to Arches, not sure what exactly would have been causing it, but it was definitely far worse than just a bad smell (which it did have).  Breathing was difficult in a similar way when I have had bad food allergic reactions.

Should it still happen if you switch the paper, it could be the gum arabic since that’s in nearly every brand of watercolour.  Gum arabic allergies are rare but they do exist.  Qor does not use gum arabic though, so that brand might be something worth trying out.

[tiago.dagostini]

Watercolor have very few things that can be causign you the allergy.  The pigments are unlikely, otherwise you would have allergy  to  jsut specific colors ( you can check one by one, if you are lucky you can discard only one  pigment from your palette)

If it is not pigment  it must be honey ( also easy to check at your grocery store) or gum  arabic.  If you are alergic to gum arabic  you  have only 1 option ..   Golden paints  Qor Watercolors. These  use synthethic  binders that  are a never curing  acrylic binder instead of gum arabic.

 

 

"no no! You are doing it all wrong, in the internet we are supposed to be stubborn, inflexible and arrogant. One cannot simply be suddenly reasonable and reflexive in the internet, that breaks years of internet tradition as a medium of anger, arrogance, bigotry and self entitlement. Damm these internet newcomers being nice to to others!!!"

"If brute force does not solve your problem, then you are not using enough!"

[Pissed Off]

Perhaps I didn’t understand, but if I read the OP (“… i fall sick whenever i complete a painting.”) correctly, the symptoms appear only after a work has been painted.  If this is when they appear, the cause very well might be something other than the art materials.

Testing each product by itself might provide some insight. Spend several minutes sniff testing each product by itself – paper, masking fluids, paints, etc.  Make sure to breath uncontaminated air after each sniff test to ensure there is no cross-contamination during the next test.

 

[Riverfrog]

Like the previous comment I also wonder if there is another cause.

Do you always paint in the same room? Do you always sit when painting? do you by any chance eat prior to painting. If so try painting standing up at your easel and try painting outside or in another place and not immediately after a meal. If you have developed a little irritation to your oesophagus these things will affect you.

It could be because concentration, perhaps tension and your sitting position for a long period. It can get very intense when you are lost in your painting.

Going back to the possibility of an allergy, I can tell you that I react to Cobalt blue, it causes eye itching for me.

I am sure you will get to the bottom of this, dont give up.

 

 

http://s3.amazonaws.com/wetcanvas-hdc/Community/images/18-Feb-2013/1041532-red_potatoes_signature_photo.jpg Red Potatoes

[kochersperger]

I agree with the paper allergy, actually the sizing on Arches.  I love the paper, but in my classes, I use a neutral fragrance paper so there are no asthma attacks.  Maybe I am more sensitive because I do have asthma, but the sizing has a unique odor.  Don’t give up on the paints.  Another paper will work for you.

Bonnie Lou Williams

[Mullanphy]

Another thought came to mind after re-reading the OP where it states, “I always use a 3M respirator with an appropriate cartridge. ”

If that is the case, and it is properly fitted, the problem most likely is in the respirator and not the art supplies.

Save lives, mask up. 😷

[mandalaToronto]

I too have allergies to Arches paper probably because of chlorine they use to obtain ultra white colour.  I switched to Saunders Waterford; Fabriano; Fluid; St Armand Pearl Gray, anything but Arches.  Try getting more air into your lungs by doing deep breathing exercises; do watercolour outdoors where possible; use a heavy duty air purifier; use a salt pipe.  You can get it at: saltpipe.ca  Hope they still sell it.That, more than anything else has helped my lung problems.

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