Susan Russick, Lea Faoro, Mark Krupa
Northwestern University Libraries’ Nineteenth Century Green Books Project investigated the presence of heavy metals in library materials, specifically arsenic, chromium, lead, and mercury. When these materials were identified, air monitoring and wipe testing were performed to assess potential occupational hazards and demonstrated that air did not contain heavy metals at detectable levels, but that gloves used to handle the materials were contaminated. During the Nineteenth Century Green Books Project, lab waste included not only contaminated gloves, but plastic bags, surface wipes, dirt removal sponges, and non-original pamphlet bindings removed from objects. Additional lab waste included surface wipes used to clean bookshelves in open stacks areas. Analysis by the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) determined that waste from contact contamination (gloves, bags, wipes, and dirt sponges) did not meet the regulatory threshold for hazardous waste, but that non-original binding fragments exceeded concentration standards and required hazardous waste disposal. Beyond the legal requirements, evaluations balanced ethical concerns regarding the necessity of safe work practices and the disposal of potentially hazardous waste.