Are Your Old Books Unhealthy (for You)?

In the 19^th century, the average lifespan was only in the 30s, or if you survived infancy, you could hope for 40-something. There were many reasons for this short lifespan, but was reading books one of them? The answer is maybe, though it certainly would have been a minor contributor compared to such causes as the plague and lack of anything resembling modern medicine. Still, many book covers of the time contained toxic chemicals, and if you have such books, they still do. The result is some libraries have taken to quarantining those old tomes, even if they are a couple of centuries late.

It has been known for some time that old book covers sometimes contain toxic chemicals. Publishers wanted bright colors on their covers to entice buyers, but bright colors are often created with poisonous ingredients. Recently, the American Chemistry Society reported on a deeper study conducted at Lipscomb University. It further confirmed the presence of potentially dangerous chemicals. Lipscomb reacted by sealing these books in plastic bags and removing them from the shelves. They have also done the same with other potentially dangerous but not yet tested books.

Previous tests of old books have shown the presence of toxic chemicals, but the Lipscomb researchers added a new one, X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine the molecules containing the toxic metals. They found the presence of lead chromate, used to create yellow dye. They found six times as much lead as chromium, meaning lead is in other compounds not yet identified as lead chromate contains equal parts of lead and chromium.

They next compared their results with standards issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The found that lead was present at twice the level accepted by the CDC and chromium at six times the safe limit. This is for chronic exposure, meaning you aren't going to become deathly ill by handling one of these books, but continued handling over time could result in various illnesses, including lung damage, cancer and infertility. You can think of it like saturated fats or, worse yet, trans fats. One cookie with too much of these fats won't kill you, but consume too many of them over time and it may seriously contribute to conditions that do shorten your life.

The poisons can be absorbed in two manners. One is from direct contact with your hands, the other by inhaling airborne particles.

The report mentions lead and chromium in yellow dye. It did not mention whether they conducted further testing for arsenic, but that had been tested earlier. Arsenic was used to create bright greens, so if your old books have bright green covers, there is a good chance they contain arsenic. It won't quickly kill you like the classic arsenic in your coffee, but it can build up so stay away from those books.

Assistant Chemistry Professor Joseph Weinstein-Webb commented, “I find it fascinating to know what previous generations thought was safe, and then we learn, oh, actually, that might not have been a great idea to use these brilliant dyes.” It makes you really wonder about readers who have a habit of licking a finger with their tongue to make it easier to turn pages. All the while, they are holding the book's cover.

Abigail Hoermann, an undergraduate chemistry student explained, “These old books with toxic dyes may be in universities, public libraries and private collections. So, we want to find a way to make it easy for everyone to be able to find what their exposure is to these books, and how to safely store them.” She pointed out that the XRD process does not require cutting off a sample from the book. “Moving forward, we want libraries to be able to test their collections without destroying them.”

Researchers on this project included Assistant Professor Weinstein-Webb, Hoermann, recent graduate Jafer Aljorani, and undergraduate Leila Ais.