Lead - may be dead

Companies from which I've bought lead white - Cremnitz, Flake etc, have had to stop doing so, because Historic England, which approves or refuses licences for the use of lead, has caught up with them and closed the loophole.  I know that most of us don't use lead anyway - I'm hoping I've got enough tucked away to last me for the rest of my life, but in the meantime I'm investigating a number of lead white alternatives, from the Supreme Paint Company.  I can't afford all of them right now, but will, eventually - and will let you know how they compare. It's sad, but that's bureaucracy for you.   If you are one of those who makes their own Flake or Stack lead white, I'd like to hear from you: best way to do that is via: [email protected], or via my blog at: https://wightpaint.blogspot.com/ And needless to say, if you do make your own: let's be careful out there...

It's not particularly toxic in artistic use, provided basic precautions are taken.  It is however very toxic to manufacture; the major concerns arose from seepage of effluent from the factories that made it (it's still made of course, under rigorous conditions in the USA, and rather less rigorous ones in parts of the  Far East).  The other sources of contamination were lead plumbing pipes, and flaking or sanding of lead paint used to maintain the woodwork in older houses: all house-paint was lead when I was young.  I can well imagine that toxic fumes from the liquid lead paint your grandfather would have used every day of his working life would have done his health no good at all, particularly if elementary precautions were not taken - which, since this would have been a good many years ago, they probably weren't.  

All serious painters in oil - i.e. those who have at various times made their living from it, and still don't object to the occasionally juicy sale - know how to deal with lead, and the heavy metals (without which, we'd have a palette starved of strong colour).  I don't actually know of any paint currently available that contains arsenic - Emerald Green used to, but doesn't now.  Cadmiums have been extensively researched - some of us in the UK made representations to the EU - back in the day, obviously! - contributing to the sum total of knowledge; and we were able, working together, to convince the authorities that insofar as cadmium represents any danger at all through artists' use, it's one that can be contained. What puzzles me, and ought to puzzle these authorities in the UK, is 1) paint is available, in genuine Chinese vermilion, which contains highly poisonous mercury - but it just doesn't tick the box marked prohibited; and 2) in the USA, lead paint is available, and made on a scale I can but envy - unfortunately, it's a bit late for me to migrate to the States.  It's not noticeably killing Americans... The difference is that we got together and argued the propostion regarding cadmiums (I wouldn't have gone into battle for arsenic, though), but failed to do so for lead-based paint.  Why is this saddening?  Two reasons - i) lead is important in securing the longevity and strength of paint films: without it, we wouldn't have the paintings of Rembrandt, Velasquez, or, for that matter, Lucian Freud; ii) once you've painted with lead whites, you won't willingly go back to Titanium - nothing wrong with Titanium, apart from its softness issues once cured; but lead has been vital in the history of oil painting. 

We might succeed in laying our (gloved) mitts on it if we qualified as restorers/conservators: so it's hey-ho off to the Tech College for Alan and me... I've written to our MP, to Historic England, and am not giving up yet - I've printed off various forms and letters to study later, to see if we can't find a means of getting hold of paint which is freely available in the USA, but no longer here.  If I find a legal way, I shall share it.  If I find an illegal way, well, as if I would.