Study: Artist's famous works leaked toxic gas

Michael Harthorne

Newser staff

(NEWSER) – It turns out artist Damien Hirst's famous displays of dead animals preserved in formaldehyde may have been dangerous to more than just artistic sensibilities. A studypublished this month in Analytical Methods found Hirst's pieces were leaking formaldehyde gas at levels 10 times higher than the legal limit during a show at London's Tate Modern in 2012. They were also found to be releasing gas at a more recent show in Beijing. Both the US and EU classify formaldehyde as a carcinogen, the New York Times reports. The short-term effects of exposure include nosebleeds and coughing. The study's author, Pier Giorgio Righetti, says visitors were unlikely to have been affected by the gas, but gallery staff who spent more time around the tanks may have been.

A man walks past a sculpture by British artist Damien Hirst, "Away From The Flock" at the Oceanography Museum in Monaco in 2010.

Hirst created the works, which feature everything from zebras to sharks to cows suspended in thousands of liters of formaldehyde, in the early 1990s, the Guardian reports. In the past, he said he likes working with formaldehyde because "it is dangerous and it burns your skin; if you breathe it in, it chokes you," according to GQ. In a statement, the Tate says it took all "necessary precautions" and that the formaldehyde was contained within the tanks. Hirst denies the claims made by the study. "Experts tell us that at the levels reported by this journal, your eyes would be streaming and you would be in serious physical discomfort," a statement on his website reads. "No such complaints were made." Believe it or not the study wasn't even about Hirst's works; it was looking into the effectiveness of a new formaldehyde sensor that can be worn as a bracelet. (Last year, cleaners accidentally threw away a modern art installation.)

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