You’ve probably seen old worn out wallpaper at your grandmother’s home. But did you know that older wallpapers may contain deadly poison?
But there’s actually a very dark history behind them.
Wallpapers were invented during the Qin Dynasty in China prior to the 12 century. The silk road created a conduit for wallpapers to be sold to wealth European merchants. Wallpaper because highly desirable as a luxury good in wealthy European households. At one point, Britain actually imposed a property tax on wallpapers.
In the early stages of production, arsenic was a primary ingredient in the color dyes in wallpapers, especially for the color green. Not surprisingly, many households with wallpaper became incredibly sick. Several children died as a result of arsenic poisoning from their wallpaper.
Despite public outrage, big wallpaper giants were still resistant to removing arsenic from the dye. It took mounting public pressure to finally convince manufactures to remove arsenic from their color dye ingredients.
