The Toxic Wall of Saint Helena
How a fashionable shade of green wallpaper became the silent assassin of one of history's greatest conquerors, Napoleon Bonaparte.
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How a fashionable shade of green wallpaper became the silent assassin of one of history's greatest conquerors, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Full transcript of The Toxic Wall of Saint Helena
A single color on the wall killed an emperor, and no one realized until too late. In 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the damp, miserable island of Saint Helena. To make his home fit for a ruler, they hung brilliant, fashionable green wallpaper. But this pigment was Scheele’s Green, a stunning dye laced with toxic arsenic. Saint Helena’s relentless humidity caused black mold to grow behind the paper. The fungus consumed the arsenic, releasing an invisible, odorless poison into his bedroom. Every night, the exiled emperor slept while breathing in the toxic fumes. He slowly deteriorated, suffering from severe stomach pains. His strength vanished, leaving him in constant, shivering exhaustion. He died in agony at fifty-one, his doctors blaming stomach cancer. Decades later, tests on Napoleon’s hair revealed lethal levels of arsenic. The poison matched a scrap of wallpaper kept by a loyal follower. The conqueror of Europe wasn't defeated by armies, but by his own decor. What silent hazards are we willingly inviting into our homes today?