The start of school is here! If you can pair sales with the sales tax holiday, it is a great time to stock up on school supplies that kids will need throughout the school year.
Markers, pens, paints, and paper are tools for drawing and painting. These activities nurture children’s imagination and creativity, but they need to be safe. Substances like lead, cadmium, asbestos, and organic solvents can be present in certain art supplies and are harmful to health. It is important to balance a good deal with supplies that are safe and non-toxic.
Children are uniquely vulnerable. Children in grades six and lower should always use non-toxic art and craft supplies. Some art supplies use safer ingredients and are made with children in mind, while some aren’t. So, safety is important to consider this when purchasing school or art supplies. This is especially important with younger children who may end up with more paint on themselves than on the paper!

Tips to help keep our budding artists safe:

• Use only non-toxic art supplies approved by the Art & Creative Materials Institute (ACMI). Look for ACMI non-toxic seal “AP” at www.acmiart.org
• Use non-aerosol liquid products.
• Consider water-based glues, markers and paints.
• Read labels to identify precautions.
• Keep spaces ventilated with open screened windows and/or doors or work outdoors.
• Ensure children wear protective smocks or aprons.
• Be sure children are closely supervised when using household supplies as art materials to avoid ingestion/improper use (e.g., liquid starch, shaving cream).
• Wet mop, or vacuum with a high-efficiency HEPA filter to clean floors.
• Use a wet cloth to clean surfaces before and after creative time.
• Use fragrance free supplies.
• Do not allow children to eat or drink while using art and craft materials.
• Wash hands thoroughly after using art and craft supplies.

Although inhalation is a route of exposure to potentially hazardous materials, smell is not a good indicator of toxicity. Sometimes a material can have a strong smell (such as a marker) but be non-toxic. On the other hand, something that has no smell or smells sweet could be highly toxic. Always remember to read the label before using a product.

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