Reading into the dangers of poison paint in Victorian-era books

The brightly coloured fabric covers of Victorian-era books contain dyes that have potentially dangerous levels of lead and chromium, chemists at Lipscomb University, US have discovered. As a result, precautions have been put in place to keep librarians and visitors at the university safe. All 26 books studied have been pulled from circulation and sealed, and they have instructed the librarians on campus to handle these items with gloves and use heavy-duty masks if working in a confined space. The Lipscomb team estimates that there are roughly 50 to 100 books in the university’s library that need to be tested and potentially removed from circulation. Their work was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver.