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Arsenic and Old Tastes Made Victorian Wallpaper Deadly

20 points by prismatic 10y ago

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
magic_beans 10y ago
This article is no better than a back-cover summary of " Bitten By Witch Fever". Such a great and intriguing topic, and such a stilted article :/
hammock 10y ago
And in today's wallpaper (and paint, and wall construction, etc), VOCs are making people sick. And there are plenty of people who say it isn't harmful.
- radicaldreamer 10y ago
  The abundance of VOCs in our indoor environments, especially offices, is one of the more serious public health issues currently. Most offices/people are not aware of the problem and it isn't even measured regularly. Symptoms and issues are hard to link because they can vary from person to person, take a while to develop.
  - menacingly 10y ago
    It might be true, but isn't that also the perfect BS argument? If I said that about lettuce it'd be really hard to dispute. Even mortality itself varies from person to person and takes a while to develop
    - iamatworknow 10y ago
      There's always something that's going to be harmful to us in our man-made environment. It's just a matter of degree. If it's not radium watch dials or arsenic paint, it's asbestos or lead paint, or radon gas, or, triclosan soap, or plastic microbeads, or whatever else. That's not to say people shouldn't be concerned or strive to improve even more, but we're better now than we ever have been in any time in our history. The "product containing x will kill you and your children!" thing just gets tiring after a while.
pnathan 10y ago
This is a very interesting treatment of the famous paint: http://rdemaree.com/blogs/emerald-green-the-deadly-pigment-and-its-handling-characteristics-.html http://rdemaree.com/blogs/emerald-green-the-deadly-pigment-a...
timthorn 10y ago
The BBC produced an hour long documentary about the perils of Victorian domestic life a year or so back: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03l7nl8 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03l7nl8
cmarschner 10y ago
For an entertaining, yet thoroughly researched account of the history of the home (including the story of arsenic and lead in paints), see Bill Bryson: At Home.
elevensies 10y ago
The title is a nice pun: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036613/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036613/

20 points by prismatic 10y ago

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

This article is no better than a back-cover summary of " Bitten By Witch Fever". Such a great and intriguing topic, and such a stilted article :/

hammock 10y ago

And in today's wallpaper (and paint, and wall construction, etc), VOCs are making people sick. And there are plenty of people who say it isn't harmful.

radicaldreamer 10y ago
The abundance of VOCs in our indoor environments, especially offices, is one of the more serious public health issues currently. Most offices/people are not aware of the problem and it isn't even measured regularly. Symptoms and issues are hard to link because they can vary from person to person, take a while to develop.
- menacingly 10y ago
  It might be true, but isn't that also the perfect BS argument? If I said that about lettuce it'd be really hard to dispute. Even mortality itself varies from person to person and takes a while to develop
  - iamatworknow 10y ago
    There's always something that's going to be harmful to us in our man-made environment. It's just a matter of degree. If it's not radium watch dials or arsenic paint, it's asbestos or lead paint, or radon gas, or, triclosan soap, or plastic microbeads, or whatever else. That's not to say people shouldn't be concerned or strive to improve even more, but we're better now than we ever have been in any time in our history. The "product containing x will kill you and your children!" thing just gets tiring after a while.

pnathan 10y ago

This is a very interesting treatment of the famous paint: http://rdemaree.com/blogs/emerald-green-the-deadly-pigment-and-its-handling-characteristics-.html http://rdemaree.com/blogs/emerald-green-the-deadly-pigment-a...

timthorn 10y ago

The BBC produced an hour long documentary about the perils of Victorian domestic life a year or so back: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03l7nl8 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03l7nl8

cmarschner 10y ago

For an entertaining, yet thoroughly researched account of the history of the home (including the story of arsenic and lead in paints), see Bill Bryson: At Home.

elevensies 10y ago

The title is a nice pun: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036613/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036613/