Poisonous Green

In the 19th century, certain particularly fashionable green dresses contained strong quantities of arsenic. The pigment called Scheele's green then emerald green produced an extraordinarily luminous color difficult to obtain otherwise. The problem is that it could also release toxic compounds in contact with humidity, perspiration, or simply fabric wear.

Appearing in the 18th century, Scheele's green becomes one of the most prized colors of Victorian fashion in the following century. This arsenic-based pigment produces a green of spectacular intensity, almost fluorescent under gas lighting, which is sought for dresses, wallpapers, and a thousand decorative objects. Green toilettes are all the rage in the European bourgeoisie.

Doctors nevertheless begin to suspect a link between these dyes and all sorts of ailments. Arsenic detaches in fine dust or reacts to humidity, and the workers of dyeing workshops develop cutaneous lesions, respiratory troubles, and chronic intoxications. The danger widely overflows the wardrobe: very widespread in interiors, green wallpapers could, in humid environments, see molds transform their arsenical compounds into toxic gas.

Despite warnings, the pigment remains long in use, lacking an equivalent and so much does its beauty seem unrivaled. The episode illustrates a recurrent paradox of the industrial 19th century, where chemistry offers dazzling colors and materials well before their effects on bodies are measured.