Artist Tied to Poisonous Victorian Age Wallpaper

The vibrant green pigments that 19th century artist William Morris used in the wallpapers he created for the Victorian bourgeoisie may have been slowly poisoning his well-to-do customers -- and he knew it.

Andy Meharg, professor of biogeochemistry at the University of Aberdeen, reported in the journal Nature that analysis of the wallpaper pigment showed “unequivocally that the coloration was caused by a copper arsenic salt.” Environmental pollution caused by the pigment manufacturer is extant.