Dangers of selenium toner

[Lee Shively]

I guess my olfactory sense was burned out by selenium years ago. I can't smell it at all. I can smell the cigarette being smoked in the car in front of me at the traffic intersection, but I can't smell selenium toner 12 inches from my nose.

I do use tongs.

[Gerald Koch]

Selenium toners are safe to use with normal precautions. Don't drink the stuff, use rubber gloves, and work in a well ventilated area. Like toners based on sodium sulfide, addition of a strong acid will generate a poisonous gas, hydrogen selenide.

Selenium is excreted from the body in the sweat and in the breath as very disagreeable smelling organic compounds.

[psvensson]

The selenium in shampoo is selenium sulfide, not sodium selenite as in toners. Unlike selenite, the sulfide form is not absorbed through the skin. Ironically, it's the only form of selenium thought to be carcinogenic if ingested. See http://www.eco-usa.net/toxics/selenium.shtml

Personally, I stay away from selenium toners. I'm not confident I can use them safely in my improvised darkroom. As the above article notes, chronic exposure to small amounts, only slightly above what we usually get from food, is harmful.

[jvarsoke]

Originally Posted by Gerald Koch

Selenium toners are safe to use with normal precautions. Don't drink the stuff, use rubber gloves

Hmm, I guess Latex gloves are a no-go? That would sure explain why my hands keep getting wet inside the gloves.

[User Removed]

There has been a few times when I did not have any gloves and had to tone prints. It turns your fingernails a funky brown/yellow/orange color that does not go away for ALONG time.

Use NITRILE GLOVES because those are chemical resistant.

[titrisol]

I think selenium toners are quite safe, if used using common sense

Do not drink it
Do not take a bath on it

The smell is mostly ammonia, use good ventilation
Use NITRILE gloves if you want to be extra sure

[Aggie]

your hands get wet inside the latex gloves because your hands sweat! You guys are being way to excessive about this. YOu are fearing things that that sheet from Kodak exagerates. It would take a very concentrated form to harm you, and thien long exposure like in the days to weeks worth of constant exposure. Get a clue Selenium is not any more dangerous then using a chlorine cleaser in your bathroom.