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Lets say for arguments sake the urge to consume my paint becomes too much or there is a food shortage and I need to eat my paints to survive, are these paint toxic and how much can a human safely consume?



Actually in all honesty I have been watching internet videos again and a lot of people like to lick the tip of their brushes, they say it is because the paint dries too quickly and they need to consume it to increase their power level and perhaps just get the dried paint off their brush and keep it moist, to be honest I have been noticing my paints have been drying pretty quickly and was wondering if anyone has any tips for that? Also wondering about thining paints, I know everyone says to do it but when I do it the paintjob always kind of comes out looking patchy and seems to flow into areas where I don't want it and not flow into areas where I need it, use it too thick and it has a habit of coming out too chalky. Currently using water to thin my paints but should I be using some sort of more specialized thinning medium? Water just seems to make everything look patchy

Trying to paint nighthaunt and have tried to use Nighthaunt gloom, however the paint always comes out either too patchy and does not flow and sit in areas I need it to with a thinner coat or just gives too much coverage in a thicker coat, wondering if there is a better way to pain the ghosty parts?

GW paints are non-toxic (it says so on the label/GW store page for each paint). In fact most similar paints at the same, licking the brush or drinking your brush cleaning water won't kill the average person.

That said its not likely doing you any good and taking copious amounts might well have unforeseen side-effects. Though I think you'd have to drink a lot of paint to get there.

Paint toxicity generally is a bit of an odd topic IMO; a whole lot of misinformation and misunderstanding. Acrylic paint is non-hazardous in all of its components except some pigments. More or less the only toxic paint type worth worrying about is lead white, which you would never use for miniature painting, and is banned/ restricted in terms of sale pretty much everywhere. 'Artist quality' red and yellows in particular often use cadmium compounds, which some people panick over, but cadmium's only really harmful in vapour form so unless you're smoking your paints then it won't hurt you. Cobalt is also a bit iffy, but again is only really common in artist-grade stuff, and not really miniature-appropriate things. Even these more 'harmful ' compounds have been rigorously tested for their safety, and there is nothing sold to general consumers that is an actual health risk if used properly, even if it was ingested a little. Anything that has serious potential to be a health risk is restricted, and you will know when you are buying it that it has the potential to harm you.

Oil paints can be a different story, but in that case it's often about the vapours that come off the solvents. Again, when miniature painting this isn't a concern; you won't be using nearly enough solvent for it to pose a health risk, even when using oils.

TL;DR don't worry about it, and if you happen to be a billionaire and own any Lucien Freud works, don't eat them.



In terms of paint drying out - two things: 1) Thin paint dries quicker. 2) The smaller your brush, the faster paint will dry on it. The brush's capacity to hold water affects the drying time. Holds more water >> dries slower. It kight be worth investing in a good quality, slightly latger, beush if you haven't already. A good brush that hold a really sharp tip is better than a less good one that is smaller.

Almost all art materials you'd buy conform to ASTM standards, and usually have right on their label their compliance and non toxic status. Things that don't, like enamel and lacquer paint and sprays, will have copious warnings on them. The worst effect from drinking a glass of Citadel paint is likely an upset stomach, and an empty wallet from filling it from those 12ml pots...these days, it's pretty unlikely you'll wind up like the radium girls - https://www.buzzfeed.com/authorkatemoore/the-light-that-does-not-lie

I put my paint brushes in my mouth and Im trying really hard to quit. That being said, you're not really sucking paint off the brush, just a little dirty water.

shmvo wrote:
Paint toxicity generally is a bit of an odd topic IMO; a whole lot of misinformation and misunderstanding. Acrylic paint is non-hazardous in all of its components except some pigments. More or less the only toxic paint type worth worrying about is lead white, which you would never use for miniature painting, and is banned/ restricted in terms of sale pretty much everywhere. 'Artist quality' red and yellows in particular often use cadmium compounds, which some people panick over, but cadmium's only really harmful in vapour form so unless you're smoking your paints then it won't hurt you. Cobalt is also a bit iffy, but again is only really common in artist-grade stuff, and not really miniature-appropriate things. Even these more 'harmful ' compounds have been rigorously tested for their safety, and there is nothing sold to general consumers that is an actual health risk if used properly, even if it was ingested a little. Anything that has serious potential to be a health risk is restricted, and you will know when you are buying it that it has the potential to harm you.

Oil paints can be a different story, but in that case it's often about the vapours that come off the solvents. Again, when miniature painting this isn't a concern; you won't be using nearly enough solvent for it to pose a health risk, even when using oils.

TL;DR don't worry about it, and if you happen to be a billionaire and own any Lucien Freud works, don't eat them.



In terms of paint drying out - two things: 1) Thin paint dries quicker. 2) The smaller your brush, the faster paint will dry on it. The brush's capacity to hold water affects the drying time. Holds more water >> dries slower. It kight be worth investing in a good quality, slightly latger, beush if you haven't already. A good brush that hold a really sharp tip is better than a less good one that is smaller.

This is mostly true with a couple things I want to toss in there.

Just about all paint has some measure of a heavy metal in it as part of it's base usually in the form of a white pigment to give it opacity.

This used to be lead white. It's now titanium white. Thing is our body is equally incapable of processing titanium as it is lead and titanium causes all the same problems when consumed in such a finely grained form. There is no way there is not some measure of Titanium White in basically every bottle of GW paint. You would need some kind of neon or florescent gak for it to not have it in there. At which point the pigments in those paints are going to drastically increase in the toxicity scale.

People didn't eat lead paint and then instantly fall over dead. The issue is that the lead gets into parts of our system and just doesn't leave. It sits around causing a build up of problems over time. Personal Protective gear was not as good back when lead paint was used so the issues were more pronounced and occurred faster. But titanium in the same circumstances would result in the same issues at roughly the same rate. Lead and paint is just a buzz word at this point because of the issues that arose and titanium is not getting the same scrutiny or publicity because we are taking better precautions against exposure and consumption.

How much paint should you eat? None of it.

 Lance845 wrote:

Just about all paint has some measure of a heavy metal in it as part of it's base usually in the form of a white pigment to give it opacity.

This used to be lead white. It's now titanium white. Thing is our body is equally incapable of processing titanium as it is lead and titanium causes all the same problems when consumed in such a finely grained form. There is no way there is not some measure of Titanium White in basically every bottle of GW paint. You would need some kind of neon or florescent gak for it to not have it in there. At which point the pigments in those paints are going to drastically increase in the toxicity scale.

People didn't eat lead paint and then instantly fall over dead. The issue is that the lead gets into parts of our system and just doesn't leave. It sits around causing a build up of problems over time. Personal Protective gear was not as good back when lead paint was used so the issues were more pronounced and occurred faster. But titanium in the same circumstances would result in the same issues at roughly the same rate. Lead and paint is just a buzz word at this point because of the issues that arose and titanium is not getting the same scrutiny or publicity because we are taking better precautions against exposure and consumption.

How much paint should you eat? None of it.

Titanium white (titanium dioxide) is actually used in many foods and toothpastes. It's a legal additive, under the name E171. It has recently seen some exposure, as it's suspected to induce cancer, and multiple countries are limiting or planning to ban its use.
You probably ingest more of it when brushing your teeth than when licking your paint brush.

But it's quite important to remember than a product can be labeled as non-toxic as long as it isn't toxic under normal use. Acrylics are water based, and only produce water vapor when drying. They're also pretty harmless for the skin. So they're non-toxic when used as paints.
It does not, however, mean that they're not toxic if ingested.

As always, quantity is the most important aspect of toxicity, and you probably don't ingest a ton when licking a brush, but I wouldn't take any chance.

On a scale of things to worry about? It's a complete non-factor.

Have you ever been in a garage with a running car for more than thirty seconds? More damage than drinking a bottle or two of paint etc.

So, as in all things...put it in perspective with other things you do in your life.

With vallejo paints, some of them CAN be detrimental to your health of you SPRAY/AIRBRUSH them, because of the risk of aspirating the droplets (some paints use cadmium in the pigments, for example) - not that you want ANY paint particulates in your lungs anyway.

Don't eat or huff paint, period. Don't be a muppet.