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As part of a growing national awareness effort (sparked in part by the Winterthur Library’s Poison Book Project at the University of Delaware), UCR Library is addressing the historical presence of heavy metals (like lead, arsenic, and chromium) in a subset of our older collection, primarily books published before 1970.
We have partnered with UCR Environmental Health & Safety (EH&S) to develop a comprehensive response. The EH&S Industrial Hygiene Team conducted an occupational exposure assessment study and found the overall health risk to be low. However, heavy metal residue transfer to hands was notably present after handling.
As a precaution, we are proactively implementing safety measures to prevent ingestion risk from hand-to-mouth contact (such as eating, drinking, or touching the face), in line with OSHA guidelines and EH&S recommendations, including staff training, signage, and protective encapsulation for affected books.
If you are handling books published before 1970, please follow these simple precautions:
- Wear nitrile gloves
- Do not eat, drink, vape, smoke, apply lip balm, or touch face
- Take care not to scratch the covers
- Wipe down your reading surface with a disposable wet wipe when finished
- Wash your hands thoroughly for at least 30 seconds afterwards
- Keep library materials away from children and pets who may chew on or handle them
Please note: Exposure risk comes primarily from ingestion, for example, eating without washing your hands after handling books, or touching your face. As with lead paint, the greatest concern is with sustained or repeated contact.
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Bibliography
Brittany Murray (2025) Dutch Boy Strikes Again!: Lead-Based Watercolors in Paint Books for Children, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 591-598, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2024.2447682
Veronica Mercado-Oliveras (2025) What Escapes the Eye: Exploring the Toxicity of a Red Velvet Spanish Carta Ejecutoria (1792), Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 631-639, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2465953
Jeremy R. Hamilton, Erika Lindensmith, Gary Bayne, Martha Little & Hannah B. Tashjian (2025) Assessing the Health Risks of Arsenic in Nineteenth-century Books at the UC Berkeley Library: Evaluating the Exposure Levels for Staff and Patrons in the Library Context, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 740-744, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2514983
Alexandra Alvis (2025) Let's Talk Toxic: Communicating About Bibliotoxicology Using SciComm and BibComm Ideals, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 686-693, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2024.2429339
Jess Ortegon (2025) Color Under Siege: Material Analysis and Housing of Late Nineteenth-Century Posters from the Siege and Commune of Paris, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 620-630, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2460409
Mitchell Gundrum (2025) Orpiment on Seventeenth-Century Blue-Coloured Textblock Edges, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 612-619, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2450977
Tiffany Eng Moore, Maeve Moriarty, Stephanie Barnes, Crystal Maitland, Kamila Bladek & Christine McNair (2025) Risk-based Decision-making Informed by Analysis of an Early Nineteenth-century Manuscript Containing Smalt, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 675-685, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2469475
Timothy Greening (2025) Hazardous Hues: Identification of Arsenic Present in a Range of Colours Found on Historic Archival Material in the Collection of Parks Canada, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 640-646, DOI: 10.1080.00393630.2025.2465954
Melissa Tedone, Rosie Grayburn & Janet Wittine (2025) Handling 'Poison Books': Dry Versus Wet Scenarios, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 694-701, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2024.2448394
Jeffrey Sotek, Kathryn A. Makos & Catharine Hawks (2025) Occupational Exposure Risk Assessment of Library Collections Work Tasks and Storage Areas, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 730-739, DOI: 10.1080.00393630.2025.2460407
Margaret-Ashley Veall, Maeve Moriarty, Jennifer Poulin, Marc Vermeulen, Juergen Vervoost & Lora V. Angelova (2025) A Comparative Study of Invasive and Micro-Invasive Analytical Methods for the Detection and Identification of Historically Applied Pesticides to Archival Records, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 647-658, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2024.2429955
Susan Russick, Lea Faoro, Maria Kokkori, Samuel M. Webb, Hortense De La Codre, Madeline Meier & Marc Vermeulen (2025) Multi-Analytical Investigation of Arsenical Transfer and Remediation on Nineteenth-Century Green Books, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 714-729, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2490885
Katarina Stiller, Jocelyn Alcántara-García & Melissa Tedone (2025) A Case of Identity: A Technical Study of Victorian Wallpapers, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 579-590, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2024.2443713
Catherine E. Stephens, Kelsey Osborn Miller, Olga Souza Marder (2025) 'Dash on the Poison': Analysis of an 1837 Bound Herbarium Laced with Colorless Arsenic Trioxide, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 599-611, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2024.2448101
Foekje Boersma, Marco Martens, Henk Raap, Juliette Rieff-den Boer, Helen Johnson, Wim Tromp, Imke Neels & Nicole van der Sterren (2025) It's Not Easy Being Green - The Challenge of Having Poisonous Arsenic Containing Books in a National Library Collection, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 702-713, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2460405
Susan Russick, Karissa Muratore, Tonia Grafakos, Alicia McGeachy & Marc Vermeulen (2025) Toxic Tales: Arsenic's Legacy in Nineteenth-century Green Book Bindings at Northwestern University Libraries, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 745-761, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2460403
Rosemary Goodall & Hayley Webster (2025) Showing our Metal: Identifying and Managing Hazardous Substances in Book Covers in the Museums Victoria Library, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 762-771, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2490884
Kim Bell & Robin Canham (2025) Toxicity in 3D: XRF Analysis for the Presence of Heavy Metals in a Historical Stereograph Collection at Queen's University Library, Canada, Studies in Conservation, 70:7-8, 659-674, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2025.2450976