2025/01/11 by Melissa Tedone, Rosie Grayburn, Janet Wittine · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Environmental Science · Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics · #American Environmental and Regional History #Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis #Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis
paper · doi:10.1080/00393630.2024.2448394
crossref issued 2025/01/11 · crossref published 2025/01/11 · crossref published-online 2025/01/11 · openalex publication_date 2025/01/11 · crossref created 2025/01/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2025/11/03 · crossref published-print 2025/11/17 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28 · crossref indexed 2026/08/01
Toxic heavy metal pigments are known to be found in nineteenth-century, mass-produced, Euro-American bookbindings. A lack of data, standards, and regulations for exposure to heavy metal pigments in the cultural heritage sector limits understanding of when such bookbindings might present the greatest health and safety risk and how best to assess such risk. This case study measures the friability of arsenic, chromium, and lead based pigments in a sampling of nineteenth-century bookbindings through three scenarios: first, in their naturally aged, intact state; second, during a water event simulation; and third, after salvage and air-drying from the water disaster simulation. The data demonstrate that the risk of exposure to these heavy metals increases during and after a water event, with exposure to arsenic presenting the highest degree of risk.