There have recently been several posts (some old, some new) saying that "acrylics" or artists' paints are dangerous to use on the skin and that they are carcinogenic, that is, they may cause cancer. This is not true, but deserves some explanation. Although some artist acrylics may contain pigments that could possibly be carcinogenic, it is the pigment that is the potentially harmful part, not the acrylic. However, these pigments will usually have more obvious health warnings on them than a cigarette packet, so it will not be hard to work out which are the bad ones. Of course, Derivan's Face & Body Paint, and Tim Gratton's products, contains none of these pigments.
Even with safe pigments, however, regular artist's paint shouldn't be used on the skin, for the same reasons that any other non-cosmetic product should not be used on the skin. Only cosmetic products made to cosmetic standards (or other therapeutic goods that are designed to go on the skin) are made using materials that are proven to be safe on the skin and can be used for pro-longer periods without any side effects.
For Derivan products, if they are labelled non-toxic then that's what they are. Being "non-toxic" however does not mean that they are meant to be eaten or for that matter go on the skin. They are designed to be safe for their intended use and if a person happens to consume a small amount 'accidentally' or get some on their skin 'the average person' will have no reaction. You should keep in mind that there are people who are not 'average' and are hyper-sensitive to some things and they may find that the paints cause them irritation or even to become quite ill, and this can happen with many different things - even something as humble as a peanut can be quite literally life threatening to some people. With that said I can't remember a complaint about our product (and I have been here since 1983). So non-toxic does not equal cosmetic.
Acrylics are not necessarily dangerous (many acrylics are approved and used in cosmetics worldwide) however it is certainly wrong to use an artist acrylic as a face paint. Only paints such as the Derivan Face & Body Paint or Tim Gratton's Aqua Colour that are cosmetics should be used.
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Author is a contribute writer and industries analyst. He writes many articles about different industries. Now he is associated with artsuppliesaustralia.com and writing about Face & body Paint and Face paint supplies. To know more about Acrylics as Face paint please visit our website: http://www.artsuppliesaustralia.com.au/
