St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-07-26
PARALYSIS FROM ARSENIC.
Poison in Wall Paper and Its Eff
fects Upon Health.

arsenic in wall paper?"
That was the subject of the hearing
before the public health committee III
the green room at the state house yes
terday.
Senator Gilman, of Newton, presided,
and at the appointed time called the
meeting to order.
Arsenic in wall paper and its effects
upon life has been the subject of con-
siderable comment of late. but what
truth or falsity there may be in the
question was the Subject-matter of to-
days hearing.
Henry Saltonstall, treasurer and man.
ager of the Pacific mills, was next heard.
He said:
There have been no cases reported
from the Massachusetts mills. We are
obliged TO use arsenic in colOring, but it
is not so great and dangerous as those
goods which come from abroad. A great
many of the foreign fabrics are full of
arsenic. | believe that the foreign
goods that contain arsenic are ten to
one when compared with those made in
this country.
Il am in favor of commission which
would decide what amount of arsenic
should be used. When we cannot de-
termine the amount to be used without
endangerlng life, | think that the legis-
lature should determine"
DR.. Francis II. Brown, of the Chill
dren's hospital, next spoke as follows:
Several years ago had large num-
Der of cases which resulted in finding
the presence of arsenic. Then some
person grew we'll on being removed
from certain rooms and grew worse on
being taken back The very insiduOus-
ness is part of the danger and is only
discovered by examination and study.
I'VE do not ask that the use of arsenic
be prohibited, but that it be so to dan
gerOus amount. We are not fighting
against the trace of arsenic, but the
amount Of color.
I'VE find papeEhangers frequently af-
fected with sores on their hands. face
and affections of the nose, which, no
doubt. is due to arsenic.
"A sample of paper referred to in
1872 contains 67-1O0 grains of arsenic
to the square inch. Here is one Show
ing sample) with over five grains of
arsenic to the yard, not kindergarten.
but wall; here is a card which belongs
to the diSpenSary, and here is cloth,
plum color, worn by one of our prOmi-
nent physicians who was very suscepti-
bic to arsenic.
Il can not tell you the amount which
should be used to a square yard, but
should imagine that One-ffteenth Of
grain would be safe.
wall paper on ten years will not
give OF yearly One-tenth of its aTSenical
contents, because there are so many
things to consider. The first year more
arsenic will be given OFF than in the
second. because the coating of the first
protects the second in a measure. The
ranger is growing less each succeeding
year, as Ear as quantity Is concerned,
but not as concerns effect, but the
charge is by no means the less.
This room surrounded by paper will
give of arsenic until you take of all the
paper. AS long as the paper remains
upon the wall it is just as dangerous as
ever; that is. you shovel sand from a
certain place, there is sand there until
the sand is all removed. AS long as the
pigment remains the danger is not d-
miniSh6d."
DIR. James J. Putnam said:
1.-The testimony thus far presented
only covers a small portion OF the state.
| don't care to say ANYTHING in particn-
lar as to the arsenic in papers. but these
papers which | have here Showing
number of slips would like to pass
around to you. examined number
of samples recently and found arsenic.
| have samples which contain twelve
drains, and are accordingly very dan
gernuS.
I'VE find the digestive system af-
fected, the eyes and the nervous syS-
tenn, without necessarily exhibiting
other or ordinary symptoms.
within the last two months two such
cases have been treated in the MasSa-
chusetts hospital. They were paral-
lied to such an extent that they could
not work. One was from tags used by
an expresSman and the other from wall
paper"
DR.. E. ". Abbott, of the state board
of health, was the next called. He said:
There was one case reported in 1888,
in which the person was seriously i'll,
due to arSenical poisoning. There are
other methods of getting arsenic into
the system by inhaling. The case |
speak of is a servant girl in Wakefield.
who was employed in picking up scraps
of paper. She showed all the symptoms
of arsenical poisoning, and, on eXamina-
ton, the wall paper showed no indica-
tons of the poison. The poisoning was
caused by the girl handling old paper
which had been taken from the wall and
burning it up in the stove. She inhaled
LAlt fulltS Vi SlilOAG, anu lllCI6Ol
suffered the same as though she had
taken the poison into her system in the
ordinary way.
II know of case where paris green
was manufactured that the leaves of
the trees about the factory dropped off
just the same as they would in the fall.
The time. however, was the spring.
Within the distance of 800 feet every
tree was stripped of its leaves. 1t was
due to the methods of manufacture
which allowed the paris green to escape,
and being-wafted by the wind was car
ried to some distance. AT our Sugges-
ton change was made. the result of
which was to DO away with the evil. A
large portion of paris green Is arsenic,
probably half"
Dr. Charles P Putnam said of the
subject under discussion:
Il went to an infants hospital not
long ago and found not only the chill
dren but the nurses affected with sore
fingers, and later two of the children
with trouble of the respiratory organs.
They died. There was no wall paper
about, yet it occurred to me that the eff
tects were due to arsenic.
1.-The nurses | found wore blue
dresses. from which the arsenic in queS
ton was given off. The dresses were
discarded, and the children ana nurses
recovered. but later were again afflicted
by the nurses resuming the dresses after
being washed. They thought that by
washing the garments the arsenic would
be removed.
Il don't think 4 could say anything
positively of the danger line, but would
say that One-fftieth of grain TO a yard
would not be dangerous"
-
THE COFFEE DRUNKARD.