Industrial and Domestic Toxins

As the industrial revolution gathered pace, so did the problems caused by smoke and poisonous fumes. The activities of industrial workers carried a serious health risk, whilst the smoke allowed to escape from chimneys caused pollution and health problems for the general populace. The issue of industrial toxins was something the Society could not ignore. In 1785 it offered a gold medal or thirty guineas for the best account of destroying the “smoke of fires belonging to steam-engines, furnaces involved in calcining or smelting metals or other large works in order to prevent annoyance to the neighbourhood.” Ten years later it added an additional premium “to the person who shall invent the best method by which the smoke of Steam Engines, brewhouses, sugar houses or furnaces may be advantageously condensed and collected in the form of Tar…” Among the many offers of premiums for inventions to make industrial working conditions safer, was one for an apparatus that “enabled persons to breathe in smoke or noxious atmospheres”.

The Society’s concerns were not restricted to industrial toxins; it soon became apparent that the populace was also in danger within their own homes. Many of the dyes used commonly in wallpapers and textiles in the nineteenth century contained poisonous chemicals, particularly arsenic. In 1880 the Society set up the “Poisonous Colours Committee” to investigate this issue. As well as trying to gage the opinions of those involved in the manufactures of dyes, the Committee also took samples of wallpaper, in order to understand the extent of the problem.

This Premium drawing, labeled a Plan for the Prevention of Smoke by “Maccowan”, shows a diagram of a chimney intended to draw the smoke out of a room and condense it.

 Shown is a book of wallpaper samples. The samples are labeled on the back as “arsenical” or “free”.

This sheet shows samples of furnishings used in a house, noting each room they were used in and what chemicals were found. These samples were provided to the Society by Mr H. T. Wood in 1882.

This shows a questionnaire from the Committee on Poisonous Colours sent to manufacturers of colours, paperstainers and dyers in order to assess the extent of the use of arsenic and the attitudes of those involved in the industry. (1880)