Even more deadly than The House on Pooh Corner
April 21, 2017 1:18 PM Subscribe
In the University of Michigan library, they have the most dangerous book in the world: Shadows from the Walls of Death. Eighty-six pages long, it has no words.
Sadly, the history of color pigment is shot-through with copious use of deadly chemicals. Lead. Cadmium. Arsenic. Cyanide, etc.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:34 PM on April 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 1:34 PM on April 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
If you are dealing with taxidermy before the early 20th C, you should wear gloves and a mask, too.
Arsenic: very useful; too bad it kills you along with whatever you are trying to kill..
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:37 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Arsenic: very useful; too bad it kills you along with whatever you are trying to kill..
posted by GenjiandProust at 1:37 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wow, its author (creator?) seems like an amazing person.
posted by meese at 1:37 PM on April 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by meese at 1:37 PM on April 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
That's a great read, and ties into some of the reading I've been doing the last few months about oil painting and the history of pigments. Like Thorzdad says: this is a trend over time, where in the discovery and development of some new pigment or dye safety was often first unknowingly and then begrudgingly subservient to the value of vibrant, lightfast color by artists and manufacturers both.
These days, with modern chemistry in play, most of the dangerous colors are more or less replicable through much safer synthesized mixtures, though you'll still find oil painters using (with reasonable care, hopefully) the stuff with actual heavy metals and other dangerous bits in them because of their specific qualities or cachet. Lead white, despite being just an enormously bad idea from a toxicology perspective, was the white for hundreds of years before titanium white and others came along, and it's still out there and in valued use by painters even as it becomes more difficult in various parts of the world to even legally sell it.
But the jump from "I know this color is toxic, but my work merits the risk" to "hey, that's a nice green and we can get it in bulk" is where shit tended to get really problematic, per the article.
posted by cortex at 1:57 PM on April 21, 2017 [12 favorites]
These days, with modern chemistry in play, most of the dangerous colors are more or less replicable through much safer synthesized mixtures, though you'll still find oil painters using (with reasonable care, hopefully) the stuff with actual heavy metals and other dangerous bits in them because of their specific qualities or cachet. Lead white, despite being just an enormously bad idea from a toxicology perspective, was the white for hundreds of years before titanium white and others came along, and it's still out there and in valued use by painters even as it becomes more difficult in various parts of the world to even legally sell it.
But the jump from "I know this color is toxic, but my work merits the risk" to "hey, that's a nice green and we can get it in bulk" is where shit tended to get really problematic, per the article.
In the spring of 1892 the wife of Matthew Millard, a leading businessman of Ionia County, took ill and died. Her husband, a onetime undertaker, embalmed her with injections of arsenic in her mouth and rectum and had her buried.No relation.
posted by cortex at 1:57 PM on April 21, 2017 [12 favorites]
injections of arsenic in her mouth and rectum
Now that's true love. Or true animosity. I'm not sure which.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:21 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Now that's true love. Or true animosity. I'm not sure which.
posted by Greg_Ace at 2:21 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Fascinating story, but this needs explanation:
posted by languagehat at 2:32 PM on April 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
Nearly four decades earlier, Robert Kedzie had delivered his own verdict: arsenical wallpapers must be eliminated from the state. In 1874 he collected numerous wallpaper samples from Detroit, Lansing, and Jackson stores, cut them into pages, and had them bound into 100 books which he distributed to libraries around Michigan.I mean, this whole piece is ostensibly about the deadly book, but there's not a word about why he would do such a thing.
posted by languagehat at 2:32 PM on April 21, 2017 [7 favorites]
As far as dangerous pigments go, I'm surprised I've never heard any stories about mummy curses related to paintings using certain shades of brown.
posted by ckape at 2:33 PM on April 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by ckape at 2:33 PM on April 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
I mean, this whole piece is ostensibly about the deadly book, but there's not a word about why he would do such a thing.
There were only so many ways to raise awareness in the days before the ice bucket challenge.
posted by ckape at 2:36 PM on April 21, 2017 [22 favorites]
There were only so many ways to raise awareness in the days before the ice bucket challenge.
posted by ckape at 2:36 PM on April 21, 2017 [22 favorites]
I mean, this whole piece is ostensibly about the deadly book, but there's not a word about why he would do such a thing.
Some people don't like catalogers.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:38 PM on April 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
Some people don't like catalogers.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:38 PM on April 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
I assume it was intended as a reference guide for people to see whether their own houses had these wallpapers. But yeah I wouldn't discount evangelical fervor regarding a threat that must be stopped combined with a personality that gets things done before thinking them through.
> It is one of only two known copies to exist in the state.
Honestly I'm more worried about the other 98.
posted by ardgedee at 3:19 PM on April 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
> It is one of only two known copies to exist in the state.
Honestly I'm more worried about the other 98.
posted by ardgedee at 3:19 PM on April 21, 2017 [4 favorites]
Wallpaper and Old Lace...
posted by jim in austin at 3:22 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by jim in austin at 3:22 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wow, that was fascinating. The way it starts out is almost like a ghost story or SCP.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 3:51 PM on April 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 3:51 PM on April 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
There are no words.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 5:23 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 5:23 PM on April 21, 2017 [1 favorite]
Honestly I'm more worried about the other 98.
OCLC shows four copies are held by libraries. Unsurprisingly, none of these are available for Interlibrary Loan. The catalog entry for Harvard's copy has a cute note: "For availability of this copy, see: Arnold, Joannes Daniel. De veneficio arsenicali", referencing this.
posted by RichardP at 7:03 PM on April 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
OCLC shows four copies are held by libraries. Unsurprisingly, none of these are available for Interlibrary Loan. The catalog entry for Harvard's copy has a cute note: "For availability of this copy, see: Arnold, Joannes Daniel. De veneficio arsenicali", referencing this.
posted by RichardP at 7:03 PM on April 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
In 1887, the American Medical Association estimated that between 1879 and 1883, 54–65% of all wallpaper sold in the United States contained arsenic, a third of which at dangerous levels. Over time, the poisonous pigment could flake or be brushed off the wallpaper and float in the air as inhalable dust or settle on furniture in the home.It's interesting she chose (probably) not to mention another mode of exposure to arsenic compounds associated with this kind of wallpaper, which is that certain fungi can detoxify it for their own purposes by converting the arsenic into trimethylarsine which then wafts harmlessly (to the fungi) away into the air of the room, where it can be absorbed through the lungs of any occupants:
HistoryBut I'm skeptical of this exculpation of trimethyl arsine because in children especially, low levels of a toxin can apparently have paradoxically strong effects, as in the recent case of contamination of Miralax with quite low levels of ethylene glycol.
Poisoning events due to a gas produced by certain microbes was assumed to be associated with the arsenic in paint. In 1893 the Italian physician Bartolomeo Gosio published his results on "Gosio gas" that was subsequently shown to contain trimethylarsine.[4] Under wet conditions, the mold Scopulariopsis brevicaulis produces significant amounts of methyl arsines via methylation[5] of arsenic-containing inorganic pigments, especially Paris green and Scheele's Green, which were once used in indoor wallpapers. Newer studies show that trimethylarsine has a low toxicity and could therefore not account for the death and the severe health problems observed in the 19th century.[6] [7]
posted by jamjam at 7:10 PM on April 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
The problem with arsenic (Paris) green is that there were no good strong single green pigments before it, the mixtures of yellow and blue previously used were much duller, and it is a lovely colour. There is also Naples yellow, a lovely soft yellow colour, which contains copper and tin as well as arsenic.
The Notable Cases section of the Wikipedia entry on arsenic poisoning describes some interesting cases, including an unfortunate American ambassador in Rome who was poisoned by flaking arsenic paint on the ceiling of the dining room at the embassy.
The lovely leafy green wallpaper designs of William Morris used a lot of arsenic green and he was rather resistant to calls for its withdrawal from use, possibly because a good portion of his family money came from a Cornish tin mine which produced arsenic as a by-product.
Why yes, I did work with historical pigments for a while... Apart from the ochres (red, yellow and brown), most of the colours used in house paints before synthetics were introduced were pretty poisonous = the best red was vermilion, which is mercury-based. Not to mention all that lead. I used to work for a company that specialised in restoration work on historic interiors, and the painters had to be tested for lead levels every year as the got exposed to so much of it when sanding down surfaces. Where historical accuracy was important they still sometimes used lead=based paints, although they are generally banned.
posted by Fuchsoid at 8:36 PM on April 21, 2017 [15 favorites]
The Notable Cases section of the Wikipedia entry on arsenic poisoning describes some interesting cases, including an unfortunate American ambassador in Rome who was poisoned by flaking arsenic paint on the ceiling of the dining room at the embassy.
The lovely leafy green wallpaper designs of William Morris used a lot of arsenic green and he was rather resistant to calls for its withdrawal from use, possibly because a good portion of his family money came from a Cornish tin mine which produced arsenic as a by-product.
Why yes, I did work with historical pigments for a while... Apart from the ochres (red, yellow and brown), most of the colours used in house paints before synthetics were introduced were pretty poisonous = the best red was vermilion, which is mercury-based. Not to mention all that lead. I used to work for a company that specialised in restoration work on historic interiors, and the painters had to be tested for lead levels every year as the got exposed to so much of it when sanding down surfaces. Where historical accuracy was important they still sometimes used lead=based paints, although they are generally banned.
posted by Fuchsoid at 8:36 PM on April 21, 2017 [15 favorites]
This article coincides with a recent show I watched on Netflix regarding the dangers of the Victorian home. The show went into depth of the arsenical wallpaper threat. An interesting aside from the show was that William Morris, the famous textile/wallpaper designer, poet, environmentalist etc. made the bulk of his fortune from owning the largest arsenic mine in England and he went to great lengths to deny any health threats from arsenic.
posted by SA456 at 9:17 PM on April 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by SA456 at 9:17 PM on April 21, 2017 [3 favorites]
Huh, I'd never thought about this before, but the parallels between this and the post last week about "The Yellow Wallpaper" are striking. That essay really stuck with me, and I've been talking about it a lot with people since. I've especially been thinking about the tidbit I learned from a recent museum tour that the only major architectural decision Victorian women could exercise in their homes was in the choice of wallpaper, and then how that home feature gets twisted to drive them mad in "The Yellow Wallpaper." Now to learn that wallpaper choices might have literally killed women and their families, in the same time period... there's a metaphor there. Maybe not just a metaphor.
posted by lilac girl at 10:10 PM on April 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
posted by lilac girl at 10:10 PM on April 21, 2017 [6 favorites]
As far as dangerous pigments go, I'm surprised I've never heard any stories about mummy curses related to paintings using certain shades of brown.
The painter Burne-Jones was apparently so horrified when he discovered what mummy brown pigment was made of that he took all the mummy paint he had and buried it carefully in the garden, saying a little prayer over it.
Mummy brown seems to have been mostly bitumen (fake versions were sometimes made with bitumen when suppliers ran out of real mummies), and wasn't widely used because although it gave a nice transparent colour it often reacted badly with oil paints.
posted by Fuchsoid at 11:00 PM on April 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
The painter Burne-Jones was apparently so horrified when he discovered what mummy brown pigment was made of that he took all the mummy paint he had and buried it carefully in the garden, saying a little prayer over it.
Mummy brown seems to have been mostly bitumen (fake versions were sometimes made with bitumen when suppliers ran out of real mummies), and wasn't widely used because although it gave a nice transparent colour it often reacted badly with oil paints.
posted by Fuchsoid at 11:00 PM on April 21, 2017 [5 favorites]
Just read about the history of using mummies not just in paint, but in medicine and all sorts of uses for consumption.
W.
T.
F.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:41 PM on April 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
W.
T.
F.
posted by Autumnheart at 11:41 PM on April 21, 2017 [2 favorites]
I thought we were done with the DFW/white dudes thread...
posted by Samizdata at 11:46 PM on April 21, 2017
posted by Samizdata at 11:46 PM on April 21, 2017
The first application of arsenic as a pigment was as a paint dye. The pale green shade caught on as a “refined” color. American manufacturers began using arsenic to color a range of consumer goods. Children’s toys were painted with arsenical paint. Arsenic-dyed paper was used in greeting cards, stationery, candy boxes, concert tickets, posters, food container labels, mailing labels, pamphlets, playing cards, book-bindings, and envelopes –envelopes the sender had to lick.And here I was thinking he was just being satirical.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbAAVLcMzr4&t=2m18s
posted by flabdablet at 5:54 AM on April 22, 2017
Lead. Cadmium. Arsenic. Cyanide
Toxic metals have such a deep history in pigments because transition metals and other associated heavy atoms form complexes that absorb photons in the visible region of light. When a photon strikes a complex of lead or cadmium, an electron is excited and transferred from one orbital to a higher energy orbital. The heavy atoms have so many electrons that excitations can occur with low energy (e.g. red) photons, leading to vibrant complementary colors like green. Cyanide, OTOH, is a very good ligand for binding to these metals (see Prussian blue) to form charge-transfer complexes. The cyanide is extremely nucleophilic and tends to bind very strongly to the metal center, but I'd recommend not exposing it to any strong acids ;)
Less toxic metals can also form brightly colored complexes (e.g. copper sulfate), but they tend to be either much rarer or lower on the periodic table with fewer associated electron transitions, so you get fewer varied colors.
posted by Existential Dread at 8:49 AM on April 22, 2017 [8 favorites]
Toxic metals have such a deep history in pigments because transition metals and other associated heavy atoms form complexes that absorb photons in the visible region of light. When a photon strikes a complex of lead or cadmium, an electron is excited and transferred from one orbital to a higher energy orbital. The heavy atoms have so many electrons that excitations can occur with low energy (e.g. red) photons, leading to vibrant complementary colors like green. Cyanide, OTOH, is a very good ligand for binding to these metals (see Prussian blue) to form charge-transfer complexes. The cyanide is extremely nucleophilic and tends to bind very strongly to the metal center, but I'd recommend not exposing it to any strong acids ;)
Less toxic metals can also form brightly colored complexes (e.g. copper sulfate), but they tend to be either much rarer or lower on the periodic table with fewer associated electron transitions, so you get fewer varied colors.
posted by Existential Dread at 8:49 AM on April 22, 2017 [8 favorites]
flabdablet, oh right, the bit where he repeatedly insists there is no joke and he is being completely serious?
posted by ckape at 8:49 AM on April 22, 2017
posted by ckape at 8:49 AM on April 22, 2017
The fact that people were so excited about a new shade of green that they were willing to put arsenic based dye onto clothing is just amazing. It's not like people didn't know arsenic was a bad idea before that point; in 17th century paris, you could hire a poisoner to put arsenic into the fibres of a dressing gown if you had someone you wanted to be rid of.
posted by InkDrinker at 11:54 AM on April 22, 2017
posted by InkDrinker at 11:54 AM on April 22, 2017
This would make excellent fodder for an episode of The X-Files.
posted by valkane at 4:44 PM on April 22, 2017
posted by valkane at 4:44 PM on April 22, 2017
the bit where he repeatedly insists there is no joke and he is being completely serious?
No, the bit where "we made arsenic a childhood food now".
posted by flabdablet at 7:18 AM on April 24, 2017
No, the bit where "we made arsenic a childhood food now".
posted by flabdablet at 7:18 AM on April 24, 2017
(I was referring to the whole video as one bit and only rhetorically asking a question)
posted by ckape at 3:11 PM on April 24, 2017
posted by ckape at 3:11 PM on April 24, 2017
(I was deliberately missing the sarcasm and providing a deadpan straight answer in a feebly futile attempt to be amusing)
Seriously, though. If you are, do.
posted by flabdablet at 6:49 PM on April 26, 2017
Seriously, though. If you are, do.
posted by flabdablet at 6:49 PM on April 26, 2017
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