Identified Hazards

Luckily the Early Printed Book and Ephemera collections are very low risk when it comes to hazards. Each time the team come across a potential hazard, they inform Collections Care colleagues and ask for advice.

Whenever a hazard is identified, inform the LE&E duty managers so the retrievals team know that the material is safe to handle within the sleeve and to not be alarmed when they see hazard or harmful labels on items or boxes.

Arsenic

In EPB/T/188​ alongside a tract about poisons was bound in wallpaper with examples of arsenical and arsenic-free wallpaper.

As soon as arsenic was identified as being in the book, the team started using gloves and immediately alerted conservation of this issue. The team bagged the book up and placed a flag in it so staff would know not to handle it. Conservation have since boxed the item.

The book was uncatalogued so the team placed a note regarding the arsenic wallpaper on the uncatalogued EPB spreadsheet in bold. If it had been catalogued the team would have suppressed the item so the public could not request it.

This may be a recurring issue due to the Victorian fashion for arsenic book covers. This trend started in 1814 and reached its peak in 1840s-60s so feasibly there will be examples amongst the early printed books. Another potential example, EPB/P/12359 published in 1848, had a very green cover and was sent for testing. Treat any books with bright green covers with caution.

For further information search for the "Poison Book Project" online which has been contributed to by many libraries around the world and offers detailed guidelines.

Asbestos

There have been a number of legal cases linking asbestos with talcum powder, even fairly recently. This is especially true for earlier talcum powder as it was mined in the same places as asbestos.

In an ephemera box, the team came across a sealed packet of talcum powder from the 1920s/1930s [EPH/136/19]. After speaking with Collections Care, an extra bag was added within the melinex sleeve as well as a caution sticker.

As long as the packet remains fully sealed and in its bag/sleeve, the item can remain in the ephemera box and will not pose a danger to any one in retrievals or to any users. The access status for the record was changed in line with wider access policy e.g. by appointment and a general note was added to the item record 'Hazard: may contain asbestos'.

DDT

Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, also known as DDT, was a common insecticide during the mid-twentieth century. It has since been banned in most countries due to its toxic and harmful effect on humans and the environment.

In an ephemera box, the team came across 11 fly killing cards impregnated with DDT [EPH/176/16-26]. Although from the 1930s, it is not clear how DDT breaks down over the decades, so a decision was made to seal the melinex sleeves they were in and add a hazard label to the box. The access status was also changed so the items could only be seen in the Conservation Studio.

Medicine (not controlled substances)

Items that contain medicine, outside of those containing controlled substances that need to be disposed of, may need restricting or changes made to housing.

The tablets in EPH/303/7 do not contain any controlled substances but do contain ephedrine which can be used in the manufacture of crystal meth. The item is was set to by appointment in Conservation only and the melinex sleeve needed to be sealed and have a harmful sticker added.

Poison

Be aware of items containing poison. EPH/382/8 is a plaster from the 1930s containing belladonna, an alkaloid atropine, which is poisonous. The original packaging the plaster had been removed from is stored in a separate melinex sleeve. Both items were potentially hazardous as the poison was part of the plaster but may have also left residue on the packaging.

Sharp items