Name: Kathy

Message: I have been using Pebeo Soie silk dyes for over 6 years in a small studio, formerly a bedroom. I've used no ventilation and rarely used gloves. I believed (perhaps foolishly) that non-toxic meant that these safety precautions were not necessary. I recently learned that I need to ventilate my studio and wear gloves. Can you advise on the best type of ventilation? Also, the carpeted floor is full of dye. I suspect that will have to be shampooed as clean as I can get it. I'm hoping that I do not have to remove the carpeting. Your comments? Thanks so much, Kathy

G&S Dyes describes Pebeo Soie dyes as being non-toxic because they apparently lack the alcohol fumes of Dupont and Sennelier silk paints. What they are referring to is probably a significant difference in dangerous fumes. However, while many Pebeo products are certified non-toxic by the Art & Creative Materials Institute (ACMI), Pebeo Soie silk dyes certainly are not. Among the French dyes, only Sennelier Tinfix includes dyes which are certified as non-toxic, but they also include some that are not non-toxic and bear cautionary labeling.

If a product does not bear specific certification to support the claim that it is non-toxic, than it must be assumed not to be non-toxic. It is easy to make a claim, but certification requires laboratory testing. Pebeo Soie are listed by the ACMI as CL (as are Sennelier-Sauer Tinfix Design silk dye). What does CL mean? It stands for "Cautionary Labeling", referring to products that are not non-toxic but which are safe for adults to use with appropriate precautions. Here's the official definition:
[See The Art & Creative Materials Institute's Certified Products List (PDF).]

Your dye retailer can supply you with an MSDS (Materials Safety Data Sheet) for each dye color that you use. Note that the different colors contain different dyes and, in some cases, different auxiliary chemicals, so you must consider each dye color individually.

Unlike the dyes we buy in powdered form, but like other household products such as leftover house paint, Pebeo Soie is categorized as a hazardous waste. (Our city provides for the disposal of such substances once a year; contact your local government to find out what their provisions are.) The MSDS says that all colors of Pebeo Soie waste dye must not be poured down the drain, and empty containers should be disposed of by a certified disposal contractor.  The waste codes indicate that any of these dye colors that you dispose of are classified as "waste paint and varnish containing organic solvents or other dangerous substances".

Most of the Pebeo Soie silk colors are free of specific health warnings. The problematic colors are these: Primary yellow, Turquoise Blue, Duck Blue, Jade, Firefly Green, Bottle Green, Oriental Green, Empire Green, Moss Green, and Jet Black. All of the seventy other Pebeo Soie colors are of relatively little concern; they are not classified as hazardous to health, as long as they don't get in a fire (the MSDS information says "In case of fire and/or explosion do not breathe fumes"). The recommendation for personal protection is that "Personnel shall wear regularly laundered overalls"—but we hardly need to be told not to wear clothing with spilled dye on it until after it is washed. Gloves are not mentioned, though prudent dyers avoid getting dye on their hands. 

The exceptions among the Pebeo Soie silk dyes—Primary yellow, Turquoise Blue, Duck Blue, Jade, Firefly Green, Bottle Green, Oriental Green, Empire Green, Moss Green, and Jet Black—are colors which contain substances hazardous enough to merit a warning on the MSDS.

I can't tell you how much ventilation is adequate for these more hazardous colors. As a guess, an open window nearby is probably adequate for typical use; an extractor fan is probably not necessary. The information on the MSDS is difficult to translate to actual use, with safety limits for amounts of fumes allowed in the air as required by various European countries, for either of two different solvents, 2,2'-oxybisethanol and 2-(2-butoxyethoxy)ethanol; only a toxicologist or safety officer would be able to tell us whether the danger levels are at all likely to be reached in typical use. Some people report feeling dizzy after using some brands of French silk dyes, but we can hope that this is not an issue for the Pebeo Soie dyes. Certainly I've never heard of silk painters using full respirators to screen out solvents from the air as they paint. PRO Chemical & Dye, which generally advises appropriate precautions for the products they sell, advises only the use of rubber gloves and an apron or old clothes with Pebeo Soie, and does not mention ventilation at all. Incidentally, the fumes from using real gutta, the solvent-based stuff, are more hazardous, so that an open window would not be adequate (the fumes from water-based resists, including those labeled "water-based gutta", are not a problem).

Jill Clay's book, Silk Painting for Beginners, advises

The MSDS warnings for the ten more hazardous colors in the Pebeo Soie line include the following (not all of them apply to all ten of the colors):

Most of the precautions above are no more than what common sense would call for for any household chemical. They are easily taken by providing good ventilation, wearing disposable nitrile gloves and protective clothing as necessary, wearing safety glasses when pouring dyes, and disposing of your unwanted dyes as you would dispose of leftover house paint. They are not reasons to avoid the use of these dyes altogether. However, these dyes are not sufficiently non-toxic to allow for their use with children, and they should be kept out of the reach of children.

If I were you, I would not remove your carpeting, but I would have it shampooed thoroughly to remove any unbound dye. Dye which has managed to bond to the carpet, which is not unlikely for a wool or nylon carpet, can be regarded as decoration. It is unlikely that dyes will bond permanently to polyester or polypropylene carpeting.

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