You probably do not need us to tell you that Arsenic is not healthy stuff. This wasn’t always such common knowledge, as for a time in the 19th century a chemical variously known as Paris or Emerald Green, but known to chemists as copper(II) acetoarsenite was a very popular green pigment. While this pigment is obviously not deadly on-contact, given that it’s taken 200 years to raise the alarm about these books (and it used to be used in candy (!)), arsenic is really not something you want in your system. Libraries around the world have been quarantining vintage green books ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶b̶i̶b̶l̶i̶o̶p̶h̶i̶l̶i̶es ̶m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶m̶p̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶m̶ out of an abundance of caution, but researchers at The University of St. Andrews have found a cheaper method to detect the poison pigment than XRF or Raman Spectroscopy previously employed.
The hack is simple, and in retrospect, rather obvious: using a a hand-held vis-IR spectrometer normally used by geologists for mineral ID, they analyzed the spectrum of the compound on book covers. (As an aside, Emerald Green is similar in both arsenic content and color to the mineral conichalcite, which you also should not lick.) The striking green colour obviously has a strong response in the green range of the spectrum, but other green pigments can as well. A second band in the near-infrared clinches the identification.
A custom solution was then developed, which sadly does not seem to have been documented as of yet. From the press release it sounds like they are using LEDs and photodetectors for color detection in the green and IR at least, but there might be more to it, like a hacked version of common colour sensors that put filters on the photodetectors.
While toxic books will still remain under lock and key, the hope is that with quick and easy identification tens of thousands of currently-quarantined texts that use safer green pigments can be returned to circulation.
Tip of the hat to [Jamie] for the tip off, via the BBC.
“Scheele’s Green” was a bit earlier then “Paris green” It was popular in wallpaper, as it kept the bugs out of your house. Apparently it was also used for clothing and kid’s toys.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheele%27s_green
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_green
And a bunch of years later, the “DDT is good for mee” ads
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ddt+is+good+for+mee&t=h_&iar=images
And now it’s PFAS
Just a few I think of at the moment, there are many more…
DDT is “practically non-toxic” to us mammals. The diseases that biting mosquitoes carry have killed 1-2 MILLION people PER YEAR since the ban.
Rachel Carson should have been tried for crimes against humanity. Her book’s entire premise was fabricated, leading to the ban and subsequent death toll.
But affects birds, that eat/control mosquitoes populations. Snakes also kill people, but when people decided to exterminate them in large numbers, guess what happened to mice populations and human crops.
No, it did not, in all likelihood, cause eggshell thinning.
See https://archive.is/UTyoT
Also see #10 in https://junkscience.com/1999/07/100-things-you-should-know-about-ddt/
The DDT ban was all politics, and has cost massive death and disability.
“eggshell thinning” so it affects birds reproduction, lowering the number of viable eggs/new birds. The “all politics” argument can play both ways. Probably some country leaders could use resources to create modern sanitation and better urban designs instead of wasting them in stupid ethnic wars and spraying gallons of insecticides in slums hopping for the best.
I like licking books
That’ll be sufficient, Commander. I believe you’ve achieved the desired effect on Q’s imagination.
oh I can’t wait until Q sees what I do after licking antique books, I am sure its worth humanity’s worthiness
Arsenic is the South American Arrow Frog of bibliophily. Doc Martin did an episode about wallpaper of the sort that the first poster mentioned.
Beautiful main graphic!
Seems book condition would be another worry.
https://www.iflscience.com/your-touch-is-poison-beware-the-green-books-that-may-contain-arsenic-67764
I have definitely read many book with similar shades of green in my life, I guess that is inevitable when you read books that are 100+ years old.
Try to handle really old books with pages dusted with DDT! (yes, I’ve been there). People used that stuff in old books like powdered sugar in cakes, because it killed the bugs that eat paper/leather. They only stop doing it after the 60s (last century).
Just don’t let the dust get to any birds.
Are you a bug?
Do you lay eggs?
If the answer to both is no, have no fear of DDT.
My dad kept an old shake can full of DDT in the back hall of his house.
It was an intelligence test.
If someone freaked out when they saw it, they were dim, panicky and gullible.
Mentally sorted into ‘group W’.
Because every investigation that proved that DDT is bad for human health is false? Nobody is talking about DDT inside a can, but about objects coated with a environmental toxic substances that must be handled, contained or disposed with safety.
DDTs worst effect on mammals is carcinogenicity, and it’s classified as b2, right along aloe vera and other herb extracts, probably including essential oils.
Is there any hope for these quarantined books to be made safe? Perhaps some kind of flexible varnish or lacquer?
You wear gloves, not change the books. And TRY not to lick the covers too much.
Not if they’re quarantined I don’t.
Why not make the books safe and put them back into circulation without any special handling requirements.
Really two cases.
In print…Replacing the book is just cheaper than dealing with public hysteria.
Out of print…Belongs on closed shelves anyhow.
Also consideration of valuable and rare editions.
Digital editions, reprints or rebinding would seem to be the best solutions if you just want to read them.
Why don’t they just put dust jackets on them?
OK, I give up. Let people lick the covers, just like we let them put their hands in the fire. Why are we protecting idiots? Do the government hate Darwin’s theory that much??
I suppose this was another million(s) dollar useless research project on the tax payer dime. Paranoia is right! :)
If the results of the research are freely available for others to learn from, it’s not “useless” research.
Came here to post this. Plenty of people read these books before they were “quarantined”. Just put them back on the shelf. Who cares.
More dangerous books:
(1) Marie Curies’s notebooks are still considered dangerously radioactive and stored in lead lined containers (https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Horizons/2011/1107/Marie-Curie-Why-her-papers-are-still-radioactive) and (2) high levels of lead appear anecdotally to be much more common than arsenic (also not good to lick but at least sweeter) (https://museumsvictoria.com.au/article/if-books-could-kill-poison-heavy-metal-and-literature/)
Of course, we could also argue that there are several well known religious and political texts that have gotten more people killed than all the arsenic, lead and radioactive books combined (by several orders of magnitude)
“Of course, we could also argue that there are several well known religious and political texts that have gotten more people killed than all the arsenic, lead and radioactive books combined (by several orders of magnitude)” :-D So true
If it’s NIR, maybe an even cheaper hack could be done with digital cameras with their NIR filter ripped off.
No more than you could photograph the spectrum of visible light reflected off of objects with a filter-intact digital camera. Light ≠ Spectrum.
You don’t need to photograph the spectrum, you need to detect whether the books are reflective in the NIR. It’s possible that a camera may well do this and be cheaper than a calibrated photodetector.
“You don’t need to photograph the spectrum, you need to detect whether the books are reflective in the NIR.”
Is that because only books, and specifically only books with arsenic reflect infrared light? I’d be interested to see an object made of matter that doesn’t. One may exist. Yeah, no to the quoted sentence.
Well you Godfrey Daniels damn sure better be able to prove arsenic and not just “visible”. Io volio vendetta. I invoke kanly.
“The hack is simple, and in retrospect, rather obvious: using a a hand-held vis-IR spectrometer normally used by geologists for mineral ID, they analyzed the spectrum of the compound on book covers.”
That’s the simple way, done cheaply with already existing proven equipment which doesn’t need building or buying. Even the author is upfront about “not quite sure how that photodetector stuff is supposed to work.”
I asked ChatGPT to design a simple 3D-printed device to detect arsenic in books
“`$fn = 100;
width = 100;
height = 60;
depth = 30;
wall_thickness = 3;
sensor_height = 10;
display_height = 15;
button_diameter = 5;
button_offset = 5;
module enclosure() {
difference() {
cube([width, depth, height]);
translate([wall_thickness, wall_thickness, wall_thickness])cube([width - 2 * wall_thickness, depth - 2 * wall_thickness, height - wall_thickness]);
translate([wall_thickness, wall_thickness, height - sensor_height])
cube([width - 2 * wall_thickness, depth - 2 * wall_thickness, sensor_height]);
translate([wall_thickness, wall_thickness, height - sensor_height + display_height])
cube([width - 2 * wall_thickness, depth - 2 * wall_thickness, display_height]);
for (i = [0 : 2]) {
translate([button_offset + i * (button_diameter + 5), depth - wall_thickness, height - button_diameter])
cylinder(h = height, d = button_diameter, center = true);
}
}
}
exposure();“`
What’s your point?
Perhaps to show ChatGPT isn’t very good?