In Mom's eyes, you'll always be a budding Michelangelo, or at least Matisse, so do make her day with a hand-drawn card. And make sure she's dizzy with delight, not chemical fumes, by using art supplies that are free of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).  If the artist is a young grandchild, it's all the more important to choose marker, inks, glues and paints that don't use petroleum-based, neurotoxic turpentine, methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) and xylene.  

As a general rule, buy water-based drawing inks, markers and paints, which are not as vaporous as permanent pigments. They're easier on the environment, too. A 2003 study exposing mice to markers containing MIBK resulted in respiratory distress, confusion and hyperactivity.

Also look for the AP label of the Art & Creative Materials Institute (ACMI), which excludes most toxic, flammable or corrosive (skin- and eye-burning) contents. 

Healthier products, most of which can be quickly found at your local office supply or drugstore, include:

Crayola Artista II watercolor sets, washable markers and liquid tempera paint

Mr. Sketch unscented and colorific markers

Sharpie poster paint markers

Elmer's washable school glue sticks 

Prang watercolor sets

Colorific markers.

For lists of glues, inks and paints deemed unsuitable for grade school children by the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, click here.

Reuse paper products, like shopping bags or backs of old cards, or buy new paper with the highest post-consumer-recycled (PCW, PCR) content you can find. 

And write on!

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Posted by Mindy Pennybacker on May 9, 2008 at 2:38 PM
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