In 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium.
1898年 居里夫人与皮埃尔·居里发现了元素镭
Claimed to have restorative properties,
镭被宣称具有修护的特性
radium was added to toothpaste, medicine,
它被添加到牙膏中 药品中
water, and food.
饮用水中 和食物中
A glowing, luminous green,
由于镭的绿色带有光泽感
it was also used in beauty products and jewelry.
它也被添加到美容产品和珠宝中
It wasn’t until the mid-20th century
直到20世纪中叶
we realized that radium’s harmful effects as a radioactive element
我们才意识到 镭作为一种放射性元素
outweighed its visual benefits.
带来的害处超过了其好处
Unfortunately, radium isn’t the only pigment that historically
不幸的是 镭并不是历史上唯一一种
seemed harmless or useful
看似无害或者有用
but turned out to be deadly.
实则致命的颜料
That lamentable distinction includes a trio of colors and pigments
这种可悲的误区包括了三种颜色和颜料
that we’ve long used to decorate ourselves and the things we make:
长期以来 它们被我们用来装饰自己和物品
white, green, and orange.
它们是白色 绿色和橙色
Our story begins with white.
我们的故事从白色说起
As far back as the 4th century BCE,
早在公元前4世纪
the Ancient Greeks treated lead to make the brilliant white pigment we know today.
古希腊人用铅来制造我们今天所知道的亮白色颜料
The problem?
问题出在哪里？
In humans, lead is directly absorbed into the body
对人类来说 铅可以被人体直接吸收
and distributed to the blood,
分布到血液
soft tissues,
软组织
and mineralized tissues.
和矿化组织
Once in the nervous system,
一旦进入神经系统
lead mimics and disrupts the normal functions of calcium,
铅可以模仿并打乱钙元素的正常功能
causing damages ranging from learning disabilities to high blood pressure.
轻则造成学习困难 重则高血压
Yet the practice of using this toxic pigment
目前使用这些有毒颜料的尝试
continued across time and cultures.
仍然存在于不同阶段和不同文化中
Lead white was the only practical choice for white oil or tempera paint
直到19世纪 铅白色都是白油和蛋彩颜料的
until the 19th century.
唯一可用选择
To make their paint, artists would grind a block of lead into powder,
为了制作颜料 艺术家们将一块铅磨成粉末
exposing highly toxic dust particles.
从而暴露在剧毒的粉尘颗粒中
The pigment’s liberal use resulted in what was known as painter’s colic,
这种颜料的过分使用导致了画家们的腹绞痛
or what we’d now call lead poisoning.
我们现在称之为铅中毒
Artists who worked with lead complained of palseys,
使用铅的画家会出现肌肉麻痹
melancholy, coughing,
心情忧郁 咳嗽
enlarged retinas, and even blindness.
视网膜放大甚至失明
But lead white’s density, opacity, and warm tone
但是铅白的质感 不透明性和温暖的色调
were irresistible to artists like Vermeer, and later, the Impressionists.
让维米尔等艺术家以及后来的印象派画家们难以舍弃
Its glow couldn’t be matched,
没有其他颜料可以媲美铅白的光泽
and the pigment continued to be widely used until it was banned in the 1970s.
这种颜料一直被广泛使用 直到20世纪70年代才被禁用
As bad as all that sounds,
尽管听起来很糟糕
white’s dangerous effects pale in comparison to another,
铅白的危险性与另一种颜料相比则相形见绌
more wide-spread pigment, green.
那就是使用更广泛的绿色
Two synthetic greens called Scheele’s Green and Paris Green
谢勒绿和巴黎绿是两种合成的绿色颜料
were first introduced in the 18th century.
最早在18世纪出现
They were far more vibrant and flashy
相比于较沉闷的天然绿色颜料
than the relatively dull greens made from natural pigments,
它们更加鲜艳和亮丽
so they quickly became popular choices for paint
因此这两种颜料迅速流行 用于绘画
as well as dye for textiles,
纺织品染料
wallpaper, soaps, cake decorations,
壁纸 香皂 蛋糕装饰
toys, candy, and clothing.
玩具 糖果和服饰
These green pigments were made from a compound called
这些绿色颜料是
cupric hydrogen arsenic.
由一种叫做砷酸铜的物质制成的
In humans, exposure to arsenic
人体暴露在砷元素中
can damage the way cells communicate and function.
会破坏细胞通讯和功能
And high levels of arsenic have been directly linked
高浓度的砷可以直接造成
to cancer and heart disease.
癌症和心脏病
As a result, 18th century fabric factory workers were often poisoned,
后果就是 18世纪的纺织厂工人经常中毒
and women in green dresses reportedly collapsed
据说 穿着绿色衣服的妇女
from exposure to arsenic on their skin.
因皮肤直接接触砷元素而晕倒
Bed bugs were rumored not to live in green rooms,
有传言说臭虫不会住在绿色的房间里
and it’s even been speculated that Napoleon died from slow arsenic poisoning
甚至有人推测拿破仑是因为睡在绿色墙纸的卧室里
from sleeping in his green wallpapered bedroom.
而死于慢性砷中毒
The intense toxicity of these green stayed under wraps
在1822年砷的配方出版之前
until the arsenic recipe was published in 1822.
这些绿色的强烈毒性一直不为人知
And a century later, it was repurposed as an insecticide.
一个世纪后 它被重新用作杀虫剂
Synthetic green was probably the most dangerous color in widespread use,
合成绿色可能是广泛使用的颜料中最危险的
but at least it didn’t share radium’s property of radioactivity.
但至少它没有镭的放射性
Another color did, though – orange.
不过 另一种颜料具备这种特性—橙色
Before World War II, it was common for manufacturers of ceramic dinnerware
二战之前 陶瓷餐具制造商
to use uranium oxide in colored glazes.
经常在彩色釉料中使用氧化铀
The compound produced brilliant reds and oranges,
这种化合物会产生鲜艳的红色和橙色
which were appealing attributes, if not for the radiation they emitted.
如果不是因为它们散发出的辐射 这些特性都很诱人
Of course, radiation was something we were unaware of until the late 1800s,
当然 直到19世纪末 我们才意识到存在辐射
let alone the associated cancer risks, which we discovered much later.
更不用说更晚发现的相关癌症风险了
During World War II,
二战期间
the U.S. government confiscated all uranium for use in bomb development.
美国政府没收了全部的铀用以发展核武器
However, the atomic energy commission relaxed these restrictions in 1959,
然而 原子能委员会在1959年放松了管制
and depleted uranium returned to ceramics and glass factory floors.
铀又被用到陶瓷和玻璃工厂
Orange dishes made during the next decade
在接下来的十年中制作的橙色盘子
may still have some hazardous qualities on their surfaces to this day.
表面仍可能有一些有害的物质
Most notably, vintage fiestaware reads positive for radioactivity.
最重要的是 往日的的节日用具仍在放射性检测时显示阳性
And while the levels are low enough that they don’t officially pose a health risk
尽管当这些餐盘被束之高阁时
if they’re on a shelf,
辐射较少 不至于构成健康威胁
the U.S. EPA warns against eating food off of them.
美国环保局仍发出警告不要吃上面的食物
Though we still occasionally run into issues with synthetic food dyes,
生活中 我们仍会偶尔遇到合成的食物染料
our scientific understanding has helped us prune hazardous colors out of our lives.
但科学认知能够帮我们规避那些危险的颜料