Archaeology & History

Some old 19th-Century book covers contain poisonous chemicals

By T.K. Randall
June 8, 2025 ·  0 comments

The issues mainly affects Victorian era books. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 Montparnassearchive A library would seem to be the last place you'd expect to find a deadly menace, yet nestled on the shelves of historical works lies a threat that few people are even aware of.

The problem stems from the fact that, during the Victorian era, bookbinders would sometimes use chemicals such as arsenic, mercury and chrome to give covers their distinctive green coloration.

"This color was very popular for most of the 19th Century because of its vibrancy and its resistance to light fading," said Erica Kotze of the University of St Andrews.

"We know that many household items were colored with arsenic-based green pigments."

"It was even used in confectionery."

Unlike confectionary, however, book covers are still around, with many antique books still plentiful on the shelves of libraries, speciality book shops and even second-hand market stalls.Short-term exposure to these chemicals can cause low level arsenic poisoning, while long-term exposure can cause all manner of ailments ranging from anaemia to skin damage.

Back in 2019, a project was set up by Winterthur Museum and Deleware's state university in an effort to test and catalogue titles that were most likely to contain harmful chemicals in their covers.

Researchers ended up developing a device that could be used to test covers quickly and effectively.

It has since been used to test thousands of books across the world, but there are still libraries out there in which potential harmful books can still be found.

"It will continue to be a live issue," said Dr Jessica Burge of the University of St Andrews, Scotland.

"But I think that the biggest issue for institutions at the moment is that any book that's got a green cover from the 19th Century is being restricted because they don't know."

Source: BBC News | Comments (0)

Tags: Poison, Books