As of: March 7, 2024, 12:26 p.m
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Books in the library of the Heinrich Heine University.
© Maja Hitij/dpa/archive image
It is “Schweinfurter Grün” that is causing concern.
This dye can contain arsenic and was used to color old books.
Now more and more universities are taking stocks off the shelves.
Rightly so?
Düsseldorf - Because individual books from the 19th century could be contaminated with toxic arsenic, the University of Düsseldorf is closing for several days to inspect 15,000 books.
Other institutions have also recently taken historical holdings off their shelves, such as the university libraries in Siegen or Bielefeld.
It is feared that these could contain arsenic compounds, which were sometimes used in green dyes at the time.
They fear that these could contain arsenic compounds that were used in green dyes at the time, according to a statement from Heinrich Heine University on Wednesday.
At the end of February, Bielefeld University took a similar step.
60,000 volumes were blocked there.
They said the issue was taken very seriously.
Shortly afterwards, something similar was heard from the university libraries in Siegen and those at the University of Duisburg-Essen.
Libraries outside North Rhine-Westphalia also decided to examine old books, such as in Saarbrücken and Kaiserslautern.
The background is new scientific findings on green dyes in particular, which were sometimes used in the 19th century and which could contain toxic arsenic compounds.
Arsenic is toxic and carcinogenic.
The focus is particularly on the intensely glowing “Schweinfurt Green”, a pigment that was used to color bindings or book cuts.
The German Library Association has also addressed the “potentially health-damaging pigment components” in historical holdings in a handout.
Each institution must individually assess how problematic books with colored pages or covers are for their users and how to deal with them: “Whether it makes sense to relocate and separate potentially affected volumes or entire groups of stocks is an individual decision of the institution,” it says in the handout from December 2023.
Not every old book that is colored green contains arsenic - at the same time, other dyes could also be contaminated.
It remains to weigh up the costs, benefits and risks of a relocation.
It is unclear in what concentration the arsenic-contaminated pigments are actually released.
Several research projects, including in Cologne and Bonn as well as in Kiel, are currently researching the possible dangers and developing ways of dealing with them, such as rapid testing procedures.
In Düsseldorf, the experts have made a decision: from March 18th to 22nd, the central library and some specialist libraries will be completely closed.
The closure is necessary so that the potentially contaminated books can be removed quickly and safely from the freely accessible area.
According to the Düsseldorf University Library, as long as the books are on the shelf, they do not pose any danger, but if the green components are touched, at least a theoretical danger is possible.
It is therefore “a purely - albeit necessary - precautionary measure” to protect health.
The removed books should then be inspected and stored for subsequent testing.
The university library expects a low four-digit number of books actually containing arsenic.
While books classified as harmless should be made usable again as quickly as possible after the tests, the handling of contaminated volumes - for example in the form of special protective measures - still needs to be discussed.
dpa