The Toxic Green Wallpapers of Victorian London
Discover the dark history of Scheele's Green, the deadly arsenic-laced wallpaper that poisoned Victorian homes.
About this video
Discover the dark history of Scheele's Green, the deadly arsenic-laced wallpaper that poisoned Victorian homes.
Full transcript of The Toxic Green Wallpapers of Victorian London
In 1860, wealthy London families began dying inside their bedrooms with no visible wounds. The killer was the stunning emerald-green wallpaper covering their walls. It was dyed with Scheele’s Green, a pigment laced with toxic arsenic. When damp air hit the paper, toxic fungus released invisible, lethal gas. Children fell asleep in beautiful green rooms, and simply never woke up. Even Queen Victoria panicked, ripping the paper from Buckingham Palace. Sometimes, the deadliest traps are the ones we willingly pay to live in.