Your Inevitable Doom

Friday's discussion on Napoleon Bonaparte's mysterious death, possibly due to deathly wallpaper (arsenic poisoning), greatly interested me. After the class discussion, I decided to further look into the history and science behind arsenic poisoning. Arsenic ranks 12th in line for the amount of elements in the human body. Arsenic is found in a wide variety of products such as glass wallpaper, seafood, and vegetables. Studies have shown that inorganic arsenic is more toxic than organic arsenic.

Arsenic has appeared throughout history beginning with the Arab alchemist Jabir who in the 8th century created a poison called arsenic trioxide. Arsenic trioxide is odorless, colorless, and leaves no traces in the body. On the other hand, the Joseon Dynasty in Korea used arsenic-sulfur to poison important political figures as a sort of capital punishment. Accused political figures had to drink a cocktail containing arsenic-sulfur called sayak. During Europe's Middle Ages, Elizabeth Bàthory (Hungarian countess) is believed to have used arsenic to poison her lovers. The poison was suppose to keep her lovers from leaving her. To be honest, I do not understand how killing her lovers is not the same concept as the lovers abandoning her. Furthermore, women in the Victorian era used a special powder to whiten their skin; the powder consisted of chalk, vinegar, and arsenic. The joke is that the powder only prevented aging through the absorption of arsenic into the bloodstream which then led to the user's death. In the art world, arsenic was present in an Emerald Green pigment used by impressionists. Rumor has it that Van Gogh's neurological symptoms could be due to his use of Emerald Green.

During the 19th century, the press provided circumstantial evidence on the possibility of mass poisoning in Europe. The large controversy over Arsenic poisoning had arisen from Karl Scheele's first synthesis of arsenic greens in 1778. This discovery led to the use of arsenic greens in wallpaper. By 1863, the United Kingdom produced 500-700 tonnes of arsenic green. German chemist Gmelin along with Italian chemist Gosi discovered that in damp environments, inorganic arsenic is transformed into a gas known as trimethylarsine. At this time, children were the number one victims of arsenic gas poisoning due to the green wallpaper used to decorate their rooms.

The lesson to learn here is that everything in life can lead to your death and/or recovery. All you need to do is sit back and relax. As one individual brilliantly said: “you have to die from something” (I do not remember the exact quote). Haha!

References
emedicine. Toxicity, Arsenic. http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/812953-overview (accessed
June 29, 2009).
Inventor Spot. Arsenic: Is This Ancient Poison a Modern Remedy? http://inventorspot.com/articles/
arsenic_ancient_poison_modern_remedy_24090 (accessed June 29, 2009).
Popular Science. Killer Wallpaper. http://www.popularscience.co.uk/features/feat17.htm (accessed
June 29, 2009).