At a certain point in human history, the fashions imposed by kings made a certain deadly shade of green a trend.
Modernity and living in urban environments can make many long for vegetation, a symbol of nature. The predominant green color in these environments is associated with states of calm, hope, and health.
Contrary to this symbolism, at a period in human history “late 19th century and early 20th century” the green color acquired a different meaning: it was directly associated with malice, toxicity and even death.
From this civilizational moment, a doctor is often summoned who helped uncover how some 19th-century deaths were linked to the poison hidden in certain green dyes that were fashionable at the time.
Dr. Thomas Orton
On April 3, 1862, a mason named Richard Turner and his wife suffered great disturbances: through the guidance of an acquaintance, they received that day at their home in Limehouse (a neighborhood on the banks of the Thames, east of England), to Dr. Thomas Orton, who was visiting to provide medical care to Ann Amelia, one of the Turner daughters.
These parents’ concerns were compounded by the recent sudden deaths of Ann Amelia’s three brothers. The cause of these deaths had been ruled by another doctor to be diphtheria, a highly contagious disease very common in London at the time.
dr According to Orton’s notes, when he arrived at the Turner home, he found Ann Amelia “suffering from extreme exhaustion” who was in excruciating pain and unable to swallow. This was a clinical picture compatible with diphtheria.
However, something in the respected physician’s clinical thinking made him doubt the diagnosis: none of the neighbors contracted the disease, and the children who died did not respond to the available therapies for diphtheria.
Before leaving Limehouse, the doctor did what he could to make Ann Amelia comfortable and began taking notes on the family’s living conditions. He examined the hygiene and water supply in the neighborhood without finding any harmful findings; He pointed out that the Turner house was cluttered with ornaments and drapes, but clean and airy.
There was only one element that worried the doctor: the Turners’ bedroom had lime green wallpaper. For years, Orton had participated in medical group discussions and hypothesized how wallpaper could kill.
Within a month, Ann Amelia passed away and Orton sought permission to perform an autopsy. Days later, Dr. Letheby, a renowned chemist at the London Hospital, took tissue samples and found a new cause of death: arsenic poisoning.
Diphtheria fears gave way when the London press published Orton and Letheby’s theory: “Dyes made from arsenic used to stain wallpaper caused deaths in Limehouse.”
Subsequently, upon closer observation, the doctor was able to determine that, like the wallpaper, carpets, curtains, and furniture in the Turner house, they accompanied decorative tastes in a hue known as “Parisian green.”
The green of Paris
Some have called the 19th century “the century of arsenic.” This criterion is based on the fact that at that time the use of this substance in the industry for the manufacture of consumer goods has increased. Back then, many cheap dyes with bright shades contained arsenic.
One of these colors achieved its greatest splendor among the nobility after the Empress Eugenia attended the Paris Opera one evening in 1864 in a very light green dress.
This hue became known as Parisian green – later it was called emerald green, Schweinfurt green or Vienna green – and became a trend not only in clothes but also in the decoration of walls.
Like plastic in modern times, the use of this color became ubiquitous in countries like France, England and the United States, nations that fell in love with the color and forgot the risks posed by this enchantment.
Parisian green was the creation of chemists who discovered that mixing copper with arsenic (copper acetoarsenite) resulted in a lighter and more permanent tint than other shades of green. Its manufacture began in 1814 and it was soon being printed on paper and fabric. It was even used to color candy and was widely used by famous painters such as Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, Cézanne and Van Gogh.
In the late 19th century in the United States, about 65 percent of all wallpaper contained arsenic, which was slowly being released into the air, landing on people’s food and hands, making them sick and sometimes even dead. They died.
Although these deadly colors continued to be fashionable, more and more stories of arsenic-related deaths came to light, the public became more frightened every day and demanded fewer clothes and wallpapers in this green, so production of the pigment was stopped in many places.
Luckily for us, arsenic-based greens are now a thing of the distant past. From the 80’s and 90’s of the 20th century, this shade was again seen as a favorable colour, especially for the environmental movement: an embodiment of life, serenity and magic, without the poison of bygone times.