Old books can have unsafe levels of chromium, but readers’ risk is low

Some Victorian-era tomes coated in vibrant yellow pigments exceed exposure limits for the heavy metal

A Victorian-era book titled Mohun is propped up to show it's deep yellow cover, which is decorated by a paler flower with green leaves and vines.

The yellow pigment coating this book contains lead and chromium compounds.

Kristi Jones/Lipscomb University

Old books can be beautiful to look at. But handle with care — they just might be toxic.

The covers of Victorian-era books are already known to sometimes have pigments that contain toxic heavy metals such as lead, chromium and arsenic. But when researchers recently assessed a collection at their university’s main library, they found toxic metal concentrations on some tomes that exceeded safe levels.

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