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Concerns about crew&cast health on set(a set that's built, in contrary to a real location)


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Hello everyone,

Can't seem to find another sub forum to post, so I decide to post here.

As you all know so many segments/scenes in movies, TVs, music videos, etc are shot on a set that's newly built rather than a real location, and it isn't hard to imagine that this industry usually needs to work fast and fast turnaround so no time to waste.

But aren't such recently-built places maybe releasing anything harmful? VOCs? Formaldehyde? (Don't know the exact English vocabs, but you get the idea). Maybe the wood material, prop furniture...or maybe the abundance or glues under those. And frankly, some low-cost LEDs and their soft box/grid are emitting awful odor...All of the above must be something if they present a health threat, I guess if not handled correctly?

Is this a big concern to our health? Or maybe there's no such thing I just described? Or is it just something that sucks but sth we have to deal with in our life like many other things?

I'm from a 3rd world country. I've been to the 1st world  but never worked in this business there. So I wonder what it is treated there. It's really hard to find any feature movie that's a 100% location shoot so wondering what Pros do to prevent...

Again English is not my 1st language so excuse me for any mistakes or stupidity.Any response is appreciated!

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13 minutes ago, Wenqi Wei said:

Hello everyone,

Can't seem to find another sub forum to post, so I decide to post here.

As you all know so many segments/scenes in movies, TVs, music videos, etc are shot on a set that's newly built rather than a real location, and it isn't hard to imagine that this industry usually needs to work fast and fast turnaround so no time to waste.

But aren't such recently-built places maybe releasing anything harmful? VOCs? Formaldehyde? (Don't know the exact English vocabs, but you get the idea). Maybe the wood material, prop furniture...or maybe the abundance or glues under those. And frankly, some low-cost LEDs and their soft box/grid are emitting awful odor...All of the above must be something if they present a health threat, I guess if not handled correctly?

Is this a big concern to our health? Or maybe there's no such thing I just described? Or is it just something that sucks but sth we have to deal with in our life like many other things?

I'm from a 3rd world country. I've been to the 1st world  but never worked in this business there. So I wonder what it is treated there. It's really hard to find any feature movie that's a 100% location shoot so wondering what Pros do to prevent...

Again English is not my 1st language so excuse me for any mistakes or stupidity.Any response is appreciated!

 

Health is an important concern. If you can, run a hi powered fan / ventilator between takes to pump in fresh air. I wonder if they have an air quality meter to measure air pollution like they have for CO2?

Good luck!

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36 minutes ago, Daniel D. Teoli Jr. said:

 

Health is an important concern. If you can, run a hi powered fan / ventilator between takes to pump in fresh air. I wonder if they have an air quality meter to measure air pollution like they have for CO2?

Good luck!

Hi Dan, Thanks for the quick response!

A fan sounds like a good idea. But I don't think a meter that even has somewhat terrible readings will discourage anyone from working though...and I don't think there is such a meter in the first place. I hope I'm wrong.

Good luck to u, too!

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This is an occupational health and product safety rather than a specific film industry question.

Generally the EU has the best regulation in this area and follows the precautionary principle. The UK is similar at the moment as it inherited EU legislation.

Also generally, the US doesn't adopt the precautionary principle- you have to prove something is harmful, rather than the manufacturer having to assess the risk of harm. VOCs in particular are much more closely regulated in the EU and the definition is far wider. In the west it's usually assumed that China has very poor domestic standards, but of course its exports have to meet the standards of the importing country.

Edited by Mark Dunn
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I think the biggest potential risk would be using recycled materials for set construction as they would very likely have something potentially harmful like mold spores and chemicals which were not yet  forbidden decades ago. Almost all old building materials have something harmful in them.

Solvents from drying paint and glue are not very healthy but they are often easy to spot from the smell

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in canada, and i assume US, the sets are usually built using the same materials as houses. they just buy the lumber/drywall/paint/etc at the same hardware store as regular construction crews

air quality is more of a concern on location

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