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I am posting prematurely because I need to confirm the details with my friend and artist Larry Leach. he is a very wonderful landscape artists who also is an artist who represents Winsor and Newton. and he has been teaching and painting for over thirty years.
but until I hear back from him, this is what I remember him saying at his workshops. Turpentine and Turpenoid are no different. Our bodies absorb the fumes at the same percentages, it just that they have treated turpenoid so that it does not smell. This does not nimimize the harm it does to our bodies.
Gamsol is difference and this is where I want to get the right information for you. All I know is that the percentage of what we absorb from Gamsol is minimul compared to Turps. In many art colleges in this country Gamsol is the only solvent they allow in the studios.
Personally, I have been taught by Marvin that one only needs refined linseed oil, as the old masters used. It is natural, will not break down the oil paint and is a very good paint thinner (though if you use too much you will discover you can't work with the paint - it is a delicate balance). Marvin NEVER used solvents and his thin layers are quite thin! As for cleaning the brushes Marvin goes so far as to clean them with only walnut oil, which is quite expensive. I started to clean my brushes this way but found I could not afford the walnut oil for this purpose. So I do hold my breath and clean them with solvents, when wash them out with soap and water.
I hope this helps a bit. I will dig through my notes if I do not hear from Larry and get you more scientific information.
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