[Article initialement publié le 15 mars 2024]
Due to toxic pigment, some 19th century books with emerald green binding could be harmful to humans.
Emerald green book: be careful, danger!
It's no secret that reading is good for your health. This activity stimulates the brain, develops language, reduces stress and promotes relaxation, improves concentration. In short, reading is good. Except when opening a book could potentially poison you.
Indeed, old books, which we find in particular in libraries, at antique dealers or collectors, sometimes have poison on their pages. This is a specific type of book, published in the 19th century. At the time, they were connected using emerald green fabric. The pigment that gives this shimmering color is produced with arsenic.
Book and arsenic
According to the WHO, “Arsenic is a natural component of the earth's crust and is widely present in the environment, whether in air, water or soil. It is very toxic in inorganic form.” It is a proven carcinogen, and can be highly toxic to humans. Many people are unfortunately exposed to arsenic around the world because it is naturally present in groundwater, in certain tobaccos or in contaminated foodstuffs.
Alerted by this risk of arsenic poisoning, Melissa Tedone, head of the library document conservation laboratory at the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Delaware, took charge of the situation and launched the Poison Book Project. The goal is to locate these toxic books to protect their owner.
150 toxic books found
Because the risks are present, although no one would risk devouring an old book from the 19th century. Indeed, booksellers, antique dealers or elderly people who handle or read these books several times a day expose themselves to risks, since they can inhale particles containing arsenic. This could cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, etc.
To date, Melissa Tedone and her team have found more than 150 toxic books. But is there much left to discover? “It's a bit difficult to predict because our data set is still small, but I certainly expect there to be thousands of such books in the world. Any library that collects mid-19th century cloth publishers' bindings is likely to have at least one or two” explained the laboratory manager.
On March 7, the University of Bonn reported that several thousand books were potentially contaminated, but that they had been carefully separated so that users could not borrow or touch them.
In any case, if you have an old book dating from the 19th century, you don't necessarily have to panic and throw it away… but you have to take it seriously, and handle it with care.
Source : National Geographic
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