On Chronic Arsenical Poisoning from Wall Papers and Fabrics

Sanger, Charles Robert

doi:10.2307/20020554

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…At the Harvard Laboratory, an American investigator, Charles Robert Sanger, had investigated cases "of chronic arsenical poisoning" from wallpapers but had been unable to demonstrate the volatilization of arsenic. Unlike Emmerling, he corresponded with Gosio, received cultures of Penicillium brevicaule, and confirmed Gosio's results (207,208). Gosio's work was recognized by naming the garlic-odored volatile material as "Gosio gas."…”

Section: Work Of Bartolomeo Gosiosupporting

confidence: 61%

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Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth

Bentley

Chasteen

2002

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

515

316

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A significant 19th century public health problem was that the inhabitants of many houses containing wallpaper decorated with green arsenical pigments experienced illness and death. The problem was caused by certain fungi that grew in the presence of inorganic arsenic to form a toxic, garlic-odored gas. The garlic odor was actually put to use in a very delicate microbiological test for arsenic. In 1933, the gas was shown to be trimethylarsine. It was not until 1971 that arsenic methylation by bacteria was demonstrated. Further research in biomethylation has been facilitated by the development of delicate techniques for the determination of arsenic species. As described in this review, many microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and yeasts) and animals are now known to biomethylate arsenic, forming both volatile (e.g., methylarsines) and nonvolatile (e.g., methylarsonic acid and dimethylarsinic acid) compounds. The enzymatic mechanisms for this biomethylation are discussed. The microbial conversion of sodium arsenate to trimethylarsine proceeds by alternate reduction and methylation steps, with S-adenosylmethionine as the usual methyl donor. Thiols have important roles in the reductions. In anaerobic bacteria, methylcobalamin may be the donor. The other metalloid elements of the periodic table group 15, antimony and bismuth, also undergo biomethylation to some extent. Trimethylstibine formation by microorganisms is now well established, but this process apparently does not occur in animals. Formation of trimethylbismuth by microorganisms has been reported in a few cases. Microbial methylation plays important roles in the biogeochemical cycling of these metalloid elements and possibly in their detoxification. The wheel has come full circle, and public health considerations are again important

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Section: Work Of Bartolomeo Gosiosupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Cacodyl itself is denigrated by the Oxford English Dictionary as "of most disgusting odour." Whether volatilization of arsenic was possible and caused poisoning was a much debated question (40,157,207,208).…”

Section: Wallpaper: Hazardous To Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth

Bentley

Chasteen

2002

Microbiol Mol Biol Rev

515

316

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“…Thus the claim for essentiality is probably unfounded. Arsenic was extensively used in the nineteenth century as a pigment particularly for wallpaper and this could produce chronic arsenic poisoning [18]. In 1954, the American Ambassador to Italy, Clare Booth Luce, suffered from chronic arsenic poisoning derived from the paint on the ceiling of her nineteenth-century villa in Rome, promoting an extensive Secret Service investigation at that time looking for a more sinister cause [19].…”

Section: Historical Uses Of Arsenicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arsenic, its clinical and environmental significance

Hindmarsh

2000

J. Trace Elem. Exp. Med.

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“…In a second paper, Sanger reviewed German cases of poisoning from arsenical wallpaper prior to 1886 in which analytical evidence indicated the presence of arsenic in the urine. 22 In a few cases, he stated that a garlic odor had been recorded as present in rooms where poisoning occurred and in one case in the patient's urine. It has to be kept in mind that in 1893 Sanger had, in fact, received a culture of`P.…”

Section: 11mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 The anecdotal evidence, however, is extensive, with many examples where illness was alleviated by provision of an environment free from the arsenical pigments. 1,9,21,22,31,33 There is no evidence that materials other than the arsenical pigments in the wallpapers were responsible for the illnesses.…”

Section: The Second Mysterymentioning

confidence: 99%

Historical Review. Of garlic, mice and Gmelin: the odor of trimethylarsine

Chasteen

Wiggli

Bentley

2002

Applied Organom Chemis

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In the 19th century, rooms were frequently decorated with wallpaper containing arsenical pigments; illness and fatalities often resulted. In 1839, Leopold Gmelin described a mouse-like odor under those conditions. Much later, it was recognized that the problem was the formation of toxic and volatile trimethylarsine by fungal action. Gmelin's observation was misreported as a garlic-like odor that is characteristic of trimethylarsine. Gmelin's original article in German and an English translation are included, and possible explanations for the incorrect reporting and for the original observation are described.

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On Chronic Arsenical Poisoning from Wall Papers and Fabrics

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth

Microbial Methylation of Metalloids: Arsenic, Antimony, and Bismuth

Arsenic, its clinical and environmental significance

Historical Review. Of garlic, mice and Gmelin: the odor of trimethylarsine

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