Posted on 08/23/2024 9:35:45 PM PDT by Red Badger
Researchers from Lipscomb University have found that brightly colored books dating back to the Victorian era contain dyes with toxic and poisonous chemicals that could harm readers. The dyes originate from the colorful inks used in the books’ type or illustrations.
While previous research has examined the poisonous substances found in the pages of these books, the researchers plan to present a new technique, one not previously used to study books, at the 2024 American Chemical Society (ACS) fall meeting in Denver, Colorado.
“These old books with toxic dyes may be in universities, public libraries and private collections,” Abigail Hoermann, an undergraduate studying chemistry at Lipscomb University, said in a recent statement.
Though the books are old, their poisonous substances can still pose serious risks if the cloth covers rub against a reader’s skin or if the toxins become airborne.
“So, we want to find a way to make it easy for everyone to be able to find what their exposure is to these books, and how to safely store them,” Hoermann said.
Colorful Poisons in History
Hoermann, along with other undergraduate students at Lipscomb University led by Joseph Weinstein-Webb, an assistant chemistry professor, began looking at the books after they were approached by two librarians at the school’s Beaman Library to analyze the colorful pigments within some of their books dating back to the 19th and early-20th centuries.
Previously, vivid green dyes in Victorian-age books had been identified as an arsenic compound known as copper acetoarsenite. This green pigment, also called Scheele’s green, was standard in Victorian society and used in everything from wallpaper patterns to dress fabric. The pigmented wallpaper is even rumored to have killed Napoleon during his exile to the island of Elba.
In other forms, arsenic was even used as a medicine during the Victorian era, as doctors recommended it as a treatment for a variety of ailments, including cancer, low libido, asthma, and skin ailments. Its presence as a white powder (arsenic trioxide) and its colorless and tasteless qualities allowed Victorians to easily mistake it for sugar or flour.
However, not every arsenic ingestion was accidental. It wasn’t until 1840 that chemist James Marsh successfully demonstrated a way of showing the presence of arsenic (known as the Marsh test). Many poisoners quite literally got away with murder, killing off relatives and competitors quickly. The poison became so popular as a means of murder that it gained the nickname: “the inheritance powder,” implying it could remove relatives standing in the way of an individual claiming an inheritance. In 1851, the United Kingdom passed a law regulating the sale of arsenic to try to mitigate the problem.
Arsenic poisoning affects around 140 million people worldwide. It can cause symptoms such as chest pain, headaches, cough, and diarrhea. The poisoning can usually be treated using chelation therapy, which works to remove arsenic from the body.
Like arsenic, lead was a common element used in pigments during the Victorian era. Molecules like lead(II) carbonate produced a brilliant white color, which was used in many different paints (creating the dangerous “lead paint”) and makeup products that Victorian women could use to make their skin look paler.
Accidental lead poisonings were common during Victorian times, as lead was used as a sweetener in plumbing, silverware, cutlery, and even winemaking. Lead can be absorbed by the skin, ingested, or breathed in, where it can affect the organs or cross the blood-brain barrier. Lead poisoning has various symptoms, including headaches, nausea, and cramps.
Dangerous Designs
To examine the books in the Lipscomb University library, the researchers used X-ray fluorescence (XRF) to identify the presence of heavy metals within the dyes. They also used inductive coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) to determine the concentration of those metals and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to identify the pigment molecules that contain the heavy metals.
While XRD has been used to test wallpaper and other fabrics, this was the first time it was used to test the dyes found within books.
From their analysis, the researchers found lead and chromium on the books as lead(II) chromate, a compound found in the yellow pigment used by Vincent van Gogh in many of his paintings. The researchers found other lead-based compounds and are working to identify them further. In many of the experiments, the researchers measured lead levels above the safe limit set by the CDC. In the most contaminated book, the lead level was twice what is considered safe, with the chromium limit being six times the standard level. If these elements are chronically inhaled or ingested, they can lead to serious health problems like infertility or cancer.
“I find it fascinating to know what previous generations thought was safe, and then we learn, oh, actually, that might not have been a great idea to use these brilliant dyes,” Weinstein-Webb says.
The researchers showed their findings to the Beaman Library staff, who then sealed off the books to limit any potentially toxic exposure as the team continued to identify other elements.
“Moving forward,” Hoermann said in her statement, “we want libraries to be able to test their collections without destroying them.”
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is the Science Communicator at JILA (a world-leading physics research institute) and a science writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with her on X or contact her via email at kenna@thedebrief.org
BEAT me to it! Just don’t breathe the smoke!
The classic palindrome. 😎
I was recently at a rather poor excuse for a museum but its the best we have within a 150 miles or so.
They generally have had unusually uninteresting and when possible woke displays on things as interesting as stolen indigenous belly button crust collections and dishware that is only of any note because of how ugly and non-functional it is.
I have no interest in fashion of today and certainly couldnt care less about the fashions of the past and that is why I found myself surprised at my interest in a travelling display on just that.
No, I still didnt care about cuts and stitching. What I did find interesting beyond embedded small weapons and such on some pieces was how incredibly dangerous and in some cases toxic clothing was.
The display of high end arsenic green dresses made me wonder how many of the strange behaviors that were attributed at different times in the past particularly to women were not only real but caused by toxic clothing.
A fascinating link from The Pragmatic Costumer...
Drop Dead Gorgeous: A TL;DR Tale of Arsenic in Victorian Life
In that story, the poisoning was deliberate.
I think the panic-stricken hyperventilating in the OP is total BS.
She finds some really interesting stuff. Jocking up with the respirators, gloves, etc. makes her look ridiculous.
And people died earlier..........................
Especially their pornography. My aunt had a great collection. They must have been into S/M, given their repressive society. In Victorian London, one out of 40 homes was a brothel.
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