Hands off: Victorian books laden with toxic dyes

Rob Beschizza

Leila Ais cuts a sample from a book cover to test for toxic dyes. Photo: Kirsty Jones / American Chemical Society

I regret to inform you that you must stop licking brightly-colored books published in the Victorian era. The dyes are poisonous.

The latest research on these poisonous books used three techniques—including one that hasn't previously been appli…