Potentially harmful photo developer regularly gets dumped down drains in the Image Arts building.

Potentially hazardous photography developing chemicals are being dumped down the drain rather than recycled in Ryerson’s photography department, The Ryersonian has learned. 

Several first-year photography students were upset and confused last semester when professor Mindy Wiltshire-Gibson told them that the School of Image Arts doesn’t provide a safe place to dispose of photo developer. 

“Mindy said, ‘as bad as it sounds, you have to pour developer down the sink,’” said Rachael Grice.  “And I feel very strongly that we shouldn’t be dumping developer down the sink.”  

Ryerson recycles harmful photography fixer, receiving a rebate from a silver recovery company, but doesn’t save developer for environmentally safe disposal, something which costs money. 

Grice said students are allowed to buy any developer they want and may opt for the more harmful ones, because they are cheaper. 

Grice develops film at least once a week and said she can’t use the developer chemical more than once.  She wonders why there is no better place to dispose of chemicals than the sink. 

“I can’t recycle it myself,” she said.   “I don’t have the resources or the time and don’t have the space to keep used developer…I can’t keep it in my locker or my house, it’s dangerous.” 

Roberto Ciccotelli, a high school photography teacher, agrees, noting that his 50 or so photography students use two gallons of developer a week. 

“We have a barrel for our chemicals and once a year they come and pick it up,” he said, noting that he never allows his students to put anything down the drain.  “This time and age there are better ways of doing it…Ryerson should at least be doing what we do.”

Ryerson’s photography department encourages students to use Kodak Xtol, the most environmentally friendly developer on the market.  It has low toxicity, but is one of the more expensive developers, according to staff at Toronto’s Elpro photography. 

The Elm Street photo shop carries various developers solely for photography students, none of which should be dumped down the drain, according to its staff.

"I feel very strongly that we shouldn’t be

dumping developer down the sink.”

In the age of digital photography, dark room printing and the use of developing chemicals is less common. 

“It’s changing fast out there and there is a lot less film being developed,” said Jeannie Baxter, the managing director of Toronto Image Works, a photography school and photo shop on Spadina. 

Baxter said even though certain products are designed to be safer than others, she doesn’t think anything should go down the drain, including Kodak Xtol.

“We don’t put anything down the drain, even though somebody says it’s safe, we don’t do it,” she said.  “I think you can always be safer and there is an option to do it another way.”  

Several companies will dispose of unsafe photography chemicals, including Clean Harbors, an environmental waste management company that has a contract with Ryerson University. 

Jennifer Harnest, a spokesperson for Clean Harbors said although the Image Arts building is in her company’s database, there hasn’t been a chemical pick-up there since early last year. Harnest also noted it could cost as much as $500 to dispose of a 45 gallon drum of developer and unlike photography fixer, there is no rebate. 

Another Toronto company, John Knox Pumping Services, will pick up used photography developer for around $600. 

The chair of image arts, Don Snyder, said he was “distressed” to hear that unsafe chemical dumping was commonplace in the photography department. 

“People tend to jump right onto anything that’s an environmental issue,” said Snyder, who said he thinks it is probably only a small number of students working with chemical developer.  “We’ve been looking at this issue over a long, long time.”

Snyder, who teaches third and fourth year students said the department encourages all students to buy Xtol, which he thinks is safe for septic systems.  

Other developers are supposed to go through a neutralization process before being dumped down the drain, he said.  “If students are not doing that, then we should be doing something about it…I will check with faculty and talk to first and second year professors and see what’s going on.” 

According to former Ryerson photography student Calla Evans, there’s never been anywhere to dispose of developer. 

“If you’re developing just your own film, then you’re pouring the developer down the drain,” said Evans, who graduated last year.  “There’s no disposal facilities at Ryerson.”