Safer pigments
No paint is completely safe: every pigment is a fine powder, and oil paint isn't food. But a handful of pigments contain metals that are genuinely toxic, and for most of them there's a safer pigment or a hue that does the same job. Here's what they are, how to handle them if you use them, and what to use instead.
Cadmium Toxic
Cadmium yellows came into artists' use in the mid-1800s and cadmium reds in the early 1900s. They're opaque, warm, strong and very lightfast, which is why many painters still reach for them.
- Wear gloves, or wash your hands well, and keep it away from food.
- Wear a well-fitted respirator rated for fine dust (for example N95/P2 or better) if you sand or spray it.
- Don't pour cadmium paint or rinse water down the drain; let solids settle and dispose of them as hazardous waste.
Safer alternatives
Yellows
Arylide and benzimidazolone yellows are bright and lightfast but more transparent. Bismuth vanadate (PY184) is the most opaque, cadmium-like lemon.
See single-pigment tubesReds
Pyrrole red (PR254) is the closest match to cadmium red medium in strength and warmth; pyrrole scarlet (PR255) is the lighter, more orange option. Quinacridone red (PR209) is a cooler, more transparent red.
See single-pigment tubesOrganic pigments are usually more transparent than cadmiums. Makers' 'cadmium-free' colors often add a little titanium white or another opaque pigment so they cover like cadmium.
Hues made to replace cadmium colors 20 tubes
Labeled as hues of a cadmium color, with no toxic metal in the tube. Each one's page compares it with the genuine pigment.
Tubes that contain it 218 tubes
Lead Toxic
Lead white was the main white of European painting for centuries. Lead also gives Naples yellow (lead antimonate), lead-tin yellow, and the 19th-century chrome yellows and oranges (lead chromate).
- Wear gloves and keep lead paint well away from food, children and pets.
- If you sand or scrape lead paint or a lead ground, wear a well-fitted respirator rated for fine dust (for example N95/P2 or better) and clean up with a damp cloth rather than sweeping.
- Never burn or heat lead paint.
Safer alternatives
White
Titanium white is the strongest, most opaque white; zinc white is transparent and cool but can make films brittle in lower layers. Many 'flake white replacement' tubes mix the two to imitate lead white's warmth and handling.
See single-pigment tubesNaples yellow
Chrome titanate (PBr24) with white gives the warm, creamy Naples look. Nickel titanate (PY53) is a pale, opaque alternative; it contains nickel, a skin sensitizer.
See single-pigment tubesChrome yellow and orange
Arylide and diarylide yellows and pyrrole orange give the same punch without lead.
See single-pigment tubesNothing quite matches lead white's fast, tough, flexible film. For grounds and underlayers, a titanium-based ground or an alkyd white are common lead-free choices.
Hues made to replace lead colors 43 tubes
Labeled as hues of a lead color, with no toxic metal in the tube. Each one's page compares it with the genuine pigment.
Tubes that contain it 18 tubes
Mercury (vermilion) Toxic
Vermilion, mercury sulfide, has been used since antiquity, first as the mineral cinnabar and later made synthetically. It was the classic warm red until cadmium reds replaced it.
- Wear gloves and keep it away from food.
- Wear a well-fitted respirator rated for fine dust (for example N95/P2 or better) if you sand or spray it.
Safer alternatives
Warm scarlet reds
Pyrrole scarlet (PR255) and naphthol scarlet (PR188) come closest to vermilion's warm, slightly orange red, and are cheap and stable.
See single-pigment tubesHues made to replace mercury (vermilion) colors 15 tubes
Labeled as hues of a mercury (vermilion) color, with no toxic metal in the tube. Each one's page compares it with the genuine pigment.
Tubes that contain it 2 tubes
Hexavalent chromium (barium chromate) Toxic
Barium chromate was sold as a pale 'lemon yellow' in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Avoid skin contact.
- Wear a well-fitted respirator rated for fine dust (for example N95/P2 or better) if you sand or spray it.
Safer alternatives
Lemon yellows
Arylide yellow 10G (PY3) and benzimidazolone lemon (PY175) are clean, cool lemons; bismuth vanadate (PY184) is the opaque option.
See single-pigment tubesTubes that contain it 1 tubes
Cobalt Handle with care
Cobalt gives some of painting's most loved colors: cobalt blue, cerulean, cobalt violets and teals, and aureolin. They're lightfast and mix to clean, slightly cool tints.
- Wear gloves if you're sensitive.
- Wear a well-fitted respirator rated for fine dust (for example N95/P2 or better) if you sand or spray it.
Safer alternatives
Cobalt blue
Ultramarine with a little white comes close; hues often add a touch of phthalo blue.
See single-pigment tubesCerulean and cobalt teal
Phthalo blue (green shade) or turquoise phthalo with white imitates cerulean; add phthalo green for teal. They're far stronger, so use very little.
See single-pigment tubesCobalt violet
Ultramarine violet is the closest soft violet; dioxazine and quinacridone violets are stronger and more saturated.
See single-pigment tubesAureolin
Transparent yellows such as nickel azo (PY150, which contains nickel) or PY128 replace aureolin, which is often not very lightfast in oil.
See single-pigment tubesHues made to replace cobalt colors 25 tubes
Labeled as hues of a cobalt color, with no toxic metal in the tube. Each one's page compares it with the genuine pigment.
Tubes that contain it 146 tubes
Arsenic Toxic
Emerald green (copper acetoarsenite) and the arsenic sulfide yellows orpiment and realgar were used for centuries.
- If you inherit old tubes or dry pigment that may contain arsenic, don't open or use them; take them to a hazardous-waste collection.
Safer alternatives
Emerald green
Phthalo green with a cool yellow and white gives a bright emerald; most emerald green hues are mixed this way.
See single-pigment tubesHues made to replace arsenic colors 12 tubes
Labeled as hues of a arsenic color, with no toxic metal in the tube. Each one's page compares it with the genuine pigment.
No longer made, or nearly
Some historical pigments dropped out of use because they were poisonous, unstable, or impossible to make. Their names live on as hues.
Emerald green PG21
Copper acetoarsenite. Its arsenic made it deadly; it was also used as a pesticide.
No longer made. Emerald green hues use phthalo green.
Manganese blue PB33
A clean, cool turquoise blue whose manufacture was stopped in the 1990s, largely because of environmental concerns.
Every 'manganese blue' tube is now a hue, usually phthalo blue with white.
Indian yellow
A glowing transparent yellow traditionally said to be made from the urine of cows fed on mango leaves. Production ended in the early 20th century.
Modern 'Indian yellow' tubes use transparent synthetic yellows and oranges.
Mummy brown
Made, as the name says, from ground-up Egyptian mummies. It fell out of use in the 20th century as supplies, and tastes, ran out.
Brown iron oxides give similar warm transparent browns.
Natural Van Dyke brown NBr8
A natural organic earth that fades in light and can make paint films crack.
Still made by a few makers; most 'Van Dyke brown' tubes are permanent iron-oxide mixtures. See the tubes
Bitumen (asphaltum) NBk6
Loved in the 19th century for rich transparent browns, but it never fully dries; it caused wrinkling and wide cracks in many paintings of that era.
A few makers still sell it; use it thinly, or choose transparent iron oxide browns instead. See the tubes
Lead-tin yellow LTY
A favorite of the old masters that was forgotten for centuries and only identified again in the 20th century.
A few specialist makers have revived it; it contains lead. See the tubes
Orpiment and realgar
Arsenic sulfide yellows and oranges used since antiquity.
No longer made for artists; arylide yellows and pyrrole oranges replace them.
Good studio habits
These matter more than which pigments you pick.
- Keep paint out of your mouth: no eating, drinking or smoking while you paint, and don't point brushes with your lips.
- Wear nitrile gloves or use a barrier cream, and wash your hands with soap before you eat.
- If you sand, scrape or spray dry paint, or handle dry pigment, wear a well-fitted respirator rated for fine dust (for example N95/P2 or better) and work with good ventilation.
- Solvents and some mediums give off vapors: ventilate the room, use the least toxic solvent you can, and keep containers closed.
- Oil-soaked rags can heat up and catch fire on their own as they dry. Lay them flat to dry outdoors or keep them in a sealed metal can or under water before disposal.
- Keep paints away from children and pets, and dispose of paint waste through your local hazardous-waste scheme rather than the drain.
This page is general information, not medical or safety advice. Each maker publishes a safety data sheet for its paints; check it, and follow the warnings on the label.