photoset showing how to use KM73 photopolymer plates to replace acid-based etching/aquatint
http://artandwater.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-make-plate-with-photopolymer-for.html
as "safe" as this stuff is, it still needs as much ventilation as "odorless" mineral spirits and you should wear latex gloves (or vinyl, nitrile). Still safer than dealing with acid, but nothing is perfectly safe.
One note: these plates are UV sensitive, but stable enough that you really don't need the safelight if you don't have one. A single 20w flourescent bulb in the darkroom will take hours to have any effect on the plates, so you can operate with it if you don't have a safelight.
http://artandwater.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-make-plate-with-photopolymer-for.html
as "safe" as this stuff is, it still needs as much ventilation as "odorless" mineral spirits and you should wear latex gloves (or vinyl, nitrile). Still safer than dealing with acid, but nothing is perfectly safe.
One note: these plates are UV sensitive, but stable enough that you really don't need the safelight if you don't have one. A single 20w flourescent bulb in the darkroom will take hours to have any effect on the plates, so you can operate with it if you don't have a safelight.