From: smb@ulysses.att.com (Steven Bellovin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: full-body paint
Date: 12 Aug 92 16:41:01 GMT

The following article was posted to rec.arts.bodyart, and is reposted
here with the permission of the original poster.
------
From: zaphod@ctrg.rri.uwo.ca (Lance R. Bailey)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.bodyart
Subject: body painting
Date: 7 Aug 92 20:20:39 GMT
Reply-To: zaphod@ctrg.rri.uwo.ca

a while back we discussed body painting ala goldfinger and whether or not
it is fatal.  Following is an article from the August 9th edition of the 
Medical Post. (reproduced without permission 'natch). it has a full back 
shot and a waist up front shot. man -- this guy (shaved head and all)
was BLUE.



THWARTED LOVER GETS THE BLUES -- Pippa Wysong

New York - When a man covered in tinted lacquer entered a German hospital,
doctors knew right away he was feeling blue.

In fact, the man had covered himself entirely with blue-tinted lacquer in a
suicide attempt after a failed romance. He had heard the gold-covered model
in the opening credits in the James Bond movie "Goldfinger" had died from
complications of whole-body paint and thought that was the way to go.

The 22-year-old latter-day Werther thought he would die of slow
asphyxiation, but the doctors were more worried about the lacquer's
possible toxic effects.

At the recent 18th annual World Congress of Dermatology and Allergology in
Augsburg, Germany, Dr. Robert Plier, professor of medicine at the Clinic of
Dermatology, outlined the doctors' attempts at treating their blue 
patient.

Even though he was covered in  lacquer, the patient was still getting ample
oxygen, "Oxygen intake by the skin is only 2% of the whole body's intake," Dr.
Plier said in an interview.

After tracking down the type of lacquer (an alkyd resin) and the brand,
doctors found their patient was in no danger of suffering toxic effects.

"The color particles are surrounded by polyesters. Usually they can't be
absorbed," Dr. Plier said.

Some lacquers, however, contain phenol, a substance that can cause kidney
and liver toxicity. "Other possible dangers of this are toxic dermatitis by
solvents or other substances inside the lacquer."

If the lacquer had contained other irritating or toxic substances, the
patient could have ended up with blisters or red skin.

In this particular case, the patient wasn't in danger. It turned out the
worst thing doctors could have done would have been to try to remove the
lacquer. "You could endanger the patient by trying to remove it with organic
solvents. they are all toxic." he said.

The patient didn't even suffer from hypothermia, something one would
expect with overall coating of the skin. Eventually doctors let the patient
go, advising him the lacquer would eventually peel off.

The patient was "quite satisfied by betting so much attention. He did it a
second time two weeks later," Dr. Pleir said. But the second time he decided
to sweeten things up a bit and added sugar to the lacquer.

Both times the patient refused psychiatric help. 


--
Lance R. Bailey  System/Network Manager         Robarts Research Institute
     NeXT/email: zaphod@ctrg.rri.uwo.ca    box: Clinical Trials Resources Group
            fax: +1 519 663 3789                P.O. Box 5015, 100 Perth Dr.
            vox: +1 519 663 3787 x4108          London, Canada N6A 5K8
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban