David,
I saw this material while working in Dallas in the 70's. It is Paris Green as you've been advised. Arlie Nowell R.I.P. was a tech at Wadley Piano and told me to not worry about that stuff it's only Paris Green and was there to kill bugs.
Google the stuff as I did a few years ago . Danger Will Robinson!
I'm not sure how I'd deal with Paris Green now but a HEPA vac with the piano, action and keys outside while wearing an appropriate mask seems in order.
I'm generally not an alarmist but removing this junk seems worth taking great pains to protect yourself and your clients.
Tom Driscoll
Insecticide and Poisoning
It was once used to kill rats in Parisian sewers, hence the common name Paris Green. It was also used in America and elsewhere as an insecticide for produce, such as apples, around 1900, where it was blended with lead arsenate. This quite toxic mixture is said to have burned the trees and the grass around the trees. An immense amount of paris green was sprayed by airplane in Italy, Sardinia, and Corsica during 1944 and in Italy in 1945 to control malaria.[1] Old pianos may contain this mixture, or either of its components. Paris Green was once a popular pigment for painting ships, because its toxicity prevented the accumulation of barnacles. It was also used to kill pests in cotton crops. The workers would put a mixture of paris green and lead arsenate in two burlap bags on a long stick and shake it over the plants. This practice was discontinued with the advent of DDT and other less toxic insecticides. Paris Green may still be found in limited use as an insecticide, primarily in the developing world.
According to the book Wisconsin Death Trip, Paris Green was popularly used in domestic poisonings, especially by servants and children seeking freedom from the man or lady of the house.
My dear Southern Brothers -
Would anyone from Florida or Louisiana (or other) have any idea of
the origin of an unusual lime-ish green powder that seems to have
been distributed over the hammers and dampers of a Baldwin Acrosonic
that I looked at yesterday? The piano lived, previously in the those
states. It does not seem to relate to any copper oxidation (the
strings are fine), nor to any abraided felts (there is nothing else
of that color). Could it have been some bug or mildew
treatment? I'd like to know, before I try tasting it. Thanks
David Skolnik
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