Green Dust in Action

Maxpiano@AOL.COM Maxpiano@AOL.COM
Sat, 13 Feb 1999 05:39:13 EST


Lance, List--

Sounds to me like paris green - an arsenic compound.  That and/or arsenate of
lead have been used to make old upright pianos mothproof and mouseproof.  One
justification was that the compounds would make a mouse thirsty and run for
water, thus not dying in the piano with its consequent odor.  Messy and not
recommended to try for taste.  Arsenate of lead was a common garden
insecticide in the 1940's but has been out of favor now for many years.

I remember reading when I was in high school that one of the reasons the Food
and Drug Act was passed early in this century, was that canning companies
would add paris green to canned peas to give them a brighter green.

Bill Maxim, RPT


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