TIL about the Poison Book Project

It doesn't surprise me though. Emerald green, also known as Schweinfurter, Paris, or Vienna green, is highly toxic due to its chemical makeup:

Cu(C₂H₃O₂)₂·3Cu(AsO₂)₂ - copper (II) acetate triarsenite

Invented in 1814, they even used this pigment to dye candy wrappers in those days.

https://sites.udel.edu/poisonbookproject/

#PoisonBookProject

Home | Poison Book Project

Learn why emerald green is our favorite color — at a cost. The Poison Book Project is an interdisciplinary research initiative at Winterthur...

The Paris institution identified the offending copies after US researchers discovered publishers in the #VictorianEra had used the chemical (arsenic) to colour #BookBindings.

The arsenic-containing green pigments were called Paris green, emerald green or Scheele’s green after a German-born chemist. #PoisonBookProject #Libraries

French #NationalLibrary quarantines books believed to be laced with #arsenic | #France
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/25/french-national-library-quarantines-books-believed-to-be-laced-with-arsenic

French national library quarantines books believed to be laced with arsenic

Chemical thought to be in emerald green covers of four 19th-century books identified by Poison Book Project

The Guardian
@dzshuniper
FWIW here is the other poison book project page: http://wiki.winterthur.org/wiki/Poison_Book_Project
Interesting stuff, I knew about the problems in wallpaper but I had never considered books!
#PoisonBookProject
#BiblioToxicology
Poison Book Project - Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library