French national library quarantines books believed to be laced with arsenic

Chemical thought to be in emerald green covers of four 19th-century books identified by Poison Book Project

France’s national library has removed four 19th-century books from its shelves whose emerald green covers are believed to be laced with arsenic.

The library said on Thursday that handling the books, which were printed in Britain, would probably cause only minor harm, but it was taking them away for further analysis.