February 15,1S73.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
641 
ARSENICAL WALL PAINTS. 
BY FREDERICK JOHN BARRETT, F.C.S., 
Pharmaceutist to the Wolverhampton a ad South Stafford¬ 
shire General Hospital. 
A short time ago I was requested to make a quali¬ 
tative analysis of three samples of a suspiciously 
brilliant green paint, which had been used for 
colouring the children’s ward of a large provincial 
hospital. A preliminary examination gave abun¬ 
dant proofs of arsenic in all three of the samples, 
and the colours upon the walls were immediately 
ordered to be removed. In a subsequent quantita¬ 
tive analysis I discovered that all contained Scheele’s 
green (arsenite of copper) in considerable propor¬ 
tions. The following are the results of my exami¬ 
nation :— 
Sample No. 1.—A light green powder, containing 
about 90 per cent, of pure arsenite of copper, 
CuHAsOj (corresponding to 47*52 per cent, of 
arsenious acid), with a small quantity of carbo¬ 
nate of lime as an admixture. 
Sample No. 2.—A soft watery green paint, contain¬ 
ing 9*73 per cent, of CuHAs0 3 (corresponding to 
4*44 per cent, of As 2 0 3 h 
Sample No. 3.—A darker green powder, supposed 
to be a mixture of Scheele’s green with a non- 
arsenical green. This contained 36 5 per cent, of 
CuHAsOg (corresponding to 19*27 per cent, of 
As 2 0 8 ). 
I found on inquiry that the powder green, No. 1, 
had been converted into the paint No. 2 by the ad¬ 
mixture of whitening, size, and water, and that the 
darker green had been used for painting the borders 
of the wall. About seven pounds of No. 1 powder 
(containing arsenicum equivalent to 53*224 ounces 
of arsenious acid) had been used for painting a ward 
the walls of which measured 910 square feet, so that 
upon each square foot there was Scheele’s green 
equivalent to about 26 grains of arsenious acid. 
Tlie paint, moreover, was readily removed by rub¬ 
bing and by moisture. 
Since making the above examinations I have 
been induced to extend my inquiries to various 
paints, wall-papers, and painted articles which, 
from their brilliant verdancy, attracted my atten¬ 
tion, and which were readily obtained from the 
artists’ colourmen and others. With very few ex¬ 
ceptions, the more attractive green papers were 
laden with arsenical pigments, and only those 
colours which were dark and heavy looking were 
free from that poison. Scheele’s green, emerald 
green, Brunswick green, Schweinfiirth green, and 
mineral green are all arsenical compounds, and are 
extensively used in painting theatres, ball-rooms, 
and other public places. Large quantities of arseni¬ 
cal papers are exported to India and the Colonies. 
And it lias been asserted by a correspondent of the 
British Medical Journal that severe attacks of 
throat disease, closely resembling diphtheria, at 
Melbourne, Victoria, and elsewhere have been 
caused by their use. He also states that “ arsenic 
Is largely used in oil paints, which are, conse¬ 
quently, exceedingly dangerous, owing to the escape 
of the poison in a gaseous form, a fact apparently 
unrecognized by the chemists and physicians of 
Great Britain and Ireland, though well known to 
then* brethren in Germany.” The greatest igno¬ 
rance of the poisonous character of these paints ap- 
Third Series, No. 138. 
pears to prevail amongst the vendors of them. Al¬ 
though they are preparations of arsenic, no questions 
are asked of the buyers, no poison label is used, no 
entry is made in the poison-book, and the sellers are 
not registered under the Pharmacy Act. In Ger¬ 
many the sale and use of arsenical pigments are 
prohibited by law, except under special circum¬ 
stances. 
In addition to the above uses arsenical pigments 
are also employed to paint children’s toys, artificial 
flowers, confectionery, fancy boxes, wafers, etc., and 
(it has been stated) for painting the shelves upon 
which articles for domestic consumption are stored 
in the shops of bakers, greengrocers, and others. 
I examined a quantity of children’s toys and some 
confectionery, and was pleased to find they were not 
coloured with these paints. The box, however, 
which held the sweetmeats was ornamented with 
gaily coloured flowers, containing a large quantity 
of arsenic. A lady kindly furnished me with some 
artificial flowers from her head-dress, which, when 
tested, were found to contain a portion of this pig ¬ 
ment. One berry alone containing equivalent to 
nearly one-sixtli of a grain of arsenic. The lady, 
not being a qualified pharmaceutist, expressed much 
astonishment at the result. 
I quote from Watts’s ‘Dictionary of Chemistry’ 
the following remarks in reference to arsenical 
colours:—“A great deal of needless alarm has 
lately been excited about the supposed deleterious 
effects of this pigment. It is extensively employed 
in staining wall-papers, and persons inhabiting 
rooms thus papered are said to have had their 
health seriously injured by the arsenical fumes 
evolved from it. Now it is utterly impossible that 
arsenic should volatilize from such a compound at 
ordinary temperatures. It does not decompose at 
any temperature below redness. The only way in 
which danger could arise from the use of paper 
stained with an arsenical colour is that particles of 
the compound might be brushed off in dusting the 
paper, and thus become mixed with the air of the 
apartment; but it is not in this way the supposed 
accidents are said to have occurred; the panic has 
arisen from a mistaken notion as to the volatility of 
the arsenic. That the use of this pigment is not 
really dangerous may be safely inferred from the 
fact that no bad effects are experienced by the work¬ 
men engaged in its manufacture.” 
There can be little doubt that great danger does 
arise, not so much from the volatility of the arseni¬ 
cum, or the decomposition of the arsenites, as from 
the fact that the colour is so easily removable from 
the walls. Danger there certainly is ; and it is to- 
be regretted that this is very insufficiently pointed 
out by the above remarks, for it is certain that 
many cases of poisoning, much injury to health, and 
even death have been clearly traced to the use of 
arsenical colours. In ‘Taylor on Poisons,’ cases 
are given in which the dust which had gathered 
upon the furniture in rooms painted with Scheele’s 
green was carefully analysed, and arsenic found to 
be present in very considerable quantity. He says, 
“It is therefore obvious that the atmosphere of 
rooms papered with arsenical paper hangings must 
be more or less contaminated with the fine particles 
of the green pigments removed from the walls by 
mechanical causes. Changes of a liygrometric and 
thermometric nature may affect this porous pigment, 
and render it more easily detached by currents of 
