Skip to main content

history of - Why is green considered a toxic color in movies?



In movies I often see green used to color dangerous and/or poisonous substances colored green, like green clouds of gas considered poisonous, and green acid considered dangerous. Can anyone explain this, or explain where this came from?



Answer



Because it was forever linked to poison by Radium and Green pigments in the 1800's. Paris Green and Scheeles Green in particular helped cement this association early on.


Radium Poisoning


enter image description here


It was clear from the beginning large doses of Radium was dangerous, the Curies made it clear early on, but it was commonly held that in small doses Radium was beneficial.


Those who painted radium watches suffered from drastic Radium poisoning, and would glow green. The radium girls destroyed the reputation of Radium, giving us the classic radioactive green glow association




What Made Green Pigments So Toxic?


Both were arsenic compounds that produced popular shades of green, known for their brilliance. They were excessively used



Paris green (copper(II) acetate triarsenite or copper(II) acetoarsenite) is an inorganic compound. It is a highly toxic emerald-green crystalline powder3 that has been used as a rodenticide and insecticide,[4] and also as a pigment, despite its toxicity.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_green


So much so that Paris Green was later used as an insecticide. It was used to kill mosquitos, and in the Paris sewers to kill rats.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_green#Insecticide


How Did They Respond in the 19th Century?


Green gained an ominous reputation, with tales of women in green dresses collapsing, newspaper printers being overcome by fumes, and children wasting away in bright green rooms



enter image description here


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheele%27s_Green#Toxicity


Famous Deaths


It's widely implied that these green pigments contributed to Napoleons death due to the lavish green suite he slept in.


There are also reports it caused health issues with famous artists who used the pigment, such as blinding Monet


Other Dangerous Colours


There are other colours with similar associations, I would recommend this Ted Ed video


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more