Our domestic poisons; or, the poisonous effects of certain dyes & colours : (especially those containing arsenic) used in domestic fabrics / By Henry Carr.

  • Carr, Henry.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Our domestic poisons; or, the poisonous effects of certain dyes & colours : (especially those containing arsenic) used in domestic fabrics / By Henry Carr. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    29/68 (page 17)
    paration, but under proper management none of the arsenic passes into the ' finished' dye. The painfully irritant efiects which have been frequently observed from stockings, gloves, &c., dyed with aniline colours cannot, therefore, be attributed to any other source than the dyes themselves, the secret of the mischief probably being that the colours have not been thoroughly ' fixed/ Aniline itself taken internally is a strong narcotic poison, and its external action is that of a local irritant. It is not difficult, therefore, to understand that in its numerous chemical derivatives the aniline dyes may partake of its irritant properties. Aniline colours are now largely used in artificial- flower-making, not merely for brillia'nt colours, but on sombre leaves, bunches of berries and dyed grasses. It is thus an unquestionable fact that our house furni- ture, decorations, and dress materials are, to a great extent, charged with deleterious poisons.^' The cases of decided illness arising from these causes, although far more frequent than is generally supposed, by no means comprise the whole of the mischief. The insidious and unsuspected action of the arsenic, which is difi'ased through the air, exerts a lowering influence on the general health, more especially in the case of children, undermining the constitution and ending ultimately, in many cases, in a break-down of health. Symptoms of chronic arsenical poisoning so often simulate other complaints, that those who are not alive 2