Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 69, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1908 — POISONS IN WALL PAPER. [ARTICLE]

POISONS IN WALL PAPER.

Mistaken Idea That Green is the Only Injurious Color. The papers most dreaded by paperhangers themselves are said to be the delicate French grays; and bltiqu tnauve, red and brown often contain a large quantity of arsenic. To quote a well known expert; "The most dangerous beeause the most generally used preparation employed In wall paper printing is the trioxlde of arsenic. . Then there Is the emerald green, an aceto-arsenlte of copper, for producing the more delicate tints, while aniline dyes—the red especially—are Indebted mainly to arsenlous acid. “To make the color adhere to the surface size or organic matter of some kind is Introduced, whether It be used to stain the paper or the fibers of which muslin Is composed. "This, when dry, cracks and peels off with the slightest friction. Besides this, some of the more potent forms of arsenic are very volatile, and become gaseous at a very low temperature, as evidenced by their odor and yellowish color; and though the ordinary observer may not detect the vapors, they are carried and diffused by the motion of the air In the moist, warm days of summer, and stealthily Invade the skin and lungs In quantities that render them very potent for evil. “From fourteen to seventeen gr. have been found in each square foot of arsenical paper, while In certain papers printed with a peculiar pigment no less than fifty-nine per cent, of arsenlous add has been demonstrated. The decomposition of the size or other vehicle for the color produces a gas known as arseniuretted hydrogen, which Is quickly aW sorbed by the lungs and skin—ever more quickly than the dust—and this is a most deadly poison." Doctors can tell of many cases of mysterious illness that have been definitely traced to arsenical poisoning by Inhalation or absorption through the pores of the skin; and a few years ago a committee was appointed by the Medical Society ors the City of London to investigate the question in every part of the country, with the result that inflammation of the skin, eyes and bowels, and severe headache, had been the portion of many individuals whose sitting or sleeping rooms were hung with arsenical papers. There are, however, some constitutions on which arsenic has no effect, and it is frequently given by doctors as a nerve tonic; but there are certain well-known signs in the eyes and mucous membrane which say authoritatively, “Thus far and no farther."