Response to Safety of Pyro

I agree that PMK can be used safely. I've been using it for nearly ten years now (since I first found the formula published in Camera & Darkroom). I have always mixed my own, wear a mask when mixing solution A, mix it outside where the fumes won't bother me, and have never had the slightest problem. I bought a box of surgical gloves to wear when developing sheet film, and always wash my darkroom sink down after developing. Nowadays I mostly use PMK for my medium format work and use Pyrocat-HD for sheet film, so I won't have to wear gloves. Pyrocat-HD was formulated by Sandy King as a substitute for PMK--I find that the development times are identical, the stain works the same way (though it's a different color), I can agitate only once per minute, and it's dirt cheap. I've heard very good things about Dixactol, but have an aversion to proprietary formulas (I'd be interested to compare its cost to hand-mixed PMK).

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