The Call is Coming from Inside the Storage Room: Artifacts in the Collection that Could Kill You

Many peculiar artifacts lurk in the National Building Museum’s permanent collection, from unidentifiable tools to photographs of buildings on fire and drawings of imagined cities. While they all reveal how buildings and cities were historically constructed, some oddities prove particularly interesting. These are the dangerous ones, the ones that are banned… these are the Things in the Collection that Could Kill You.  

Lead Paint

Lead paint is one of the most famous now-banned construction materials. Lead-based paints were popular in art and construction due to their density and opacity; these paints also dried more quickly, were more durable, and offered better resistance to moisture. By 1891, the National Lead Company had combined approximately twenty-five lead mining and smelting operations to become the leading producer of bulk refined white and red lead, along with lead oxides. The company sold these products almost exclusively to foundries and paint manufacturers. Despite evidence of its toxicity, lead-based paints were sold in the United States until a 1977 ban restricted its use in residential properties, public buildings, toys, and furniture.  

The Museum’s collection has several examples of lead paint, including a Devoe Lead and Zinc Paint display stand that houses fifty-seven wood or metal paint samples. Though the display stand states that this paint is “Made for Painting Houses,” this is not recommended. The Museum also has several artifacts from the Dutch Boy White Lead Paint line, made by the National Lead Company. The most helpful piece in this small collection is the paint calculator, a brochure that details how to mix lead paint, how many coats are required for best coverage, and how much a gallon of each ingredient should cost. The most dangerous piece in this collection is the one pound can of lead paste, which would have been used to mix lead-based paint. This can has never been opened and still holds white lead.  

Saw

This 10″ circular saw was originally designed in the 1970s and used to cut notches in roof beams for custom houses in California. However, this powerful saw had few safety measures and was deemed so dangerous that it was outlawed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) soon after. This saw in particular lacks a trigger that stops its circular motion when it is released; the saw will keep going even without human input. This could easily result in death, or at least heavy maiming.  

Asbestos Tiles

Asbestos is a naturally occurring, fibrous silica-based mineral that has been used as a strengthening and fireproofing material for millennia. It was most heavily mined in the late 1800s, when it started to be used extensively for construction. Being highly fire-resistant, as well as an excellent thermal and electrical insulator, it was highly sought after for residential and commercial building projects. Asbestos was used in concrete, pipes, gaskets, insulation, ceiling tiles, drywall, flooring, roofing, and even lawn furniture.  

Kentile Floors produced floor tiles with an asbestos content of up to 25%. The tiles contained a combination of whole and powdered asbestos fibers. Kentile flooring was popular because it was inexpensive and easy to install, even for a do-it-yourself homeowner. The asbestos made the tiles resistant to grease, stains, and scuff marks. Despite its desirability, it was a carcinogenic product, especially during manufacture, installation, and tear down. While the Museum’s asbestos tiles are mostly in good condition, it’s important to note that broken or degrading asbestos tiles are very dangerous to handle or breathe nearby.  

Jig Saw Junior

Though the bright colors on this BVI Jig Saw Jr. toy tool invite children to play with it, it hides a dangerous truth: there are no guardrails or guides to prevent the user from accidentally cutting through their fingers as easily as the saw cuts through its intended target of balsa wood. In the 1950s and 1960s, it was marketed to older children as a “safe, fun, constructive” toy, but this is no longer recommended.  

Cellulose Nitrate Negatives

In the Museum’s 300,000+ photograph collection, several types of photographic film are preserved. One of the most unstable types of film is called cellulose nitrate. It was most commonly used between 1910 and 1950 and, when deteriorated, can appear yellowed, stained, sticky, brittle, or powdery depending on the progression of the deterioration. This deterioration is self-induced and does not proceed at an even or predictable rate across different examples of the same material. As with all chemical deterioration, there are unwanted side effects to this breakdown: irritation of the lungs and eyes, rashes, headaches, and nausea. Finally, and most worryingly, deteriorated nitrate film is highly flammable, capable of self-combusting, and can continue to burn under water. Once started, a nitrate fire can be almost impossible to put out. 

Because the Museum’s photography collections span the past 150 years of photography technology, it certainly holds cellulose nitrate negatives. To reduce the chances of a deteriorating nitrate negative, photography collections storage has a consistently lower temperature than the rest of the museum. When these types of negatives are found and identified, the Museum takes steps to reproduce the image on the negative in another format and then deaccession and dispose of the negative safely.  

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Experimentation with materials is a key element of innovation and progress within the ever-changing industry of the building arts. Sometimes these new products are game changers for the field, but often they result in mistakes and missteps. Stories of dangerous materials, and how the industry eventually shifted to safer alternatives, are an important part of the history of the built environment. But don’t worry about safety: the Museum’s collections staff are specially trained to handle and preserve these materials without risk to themselves or the artifacts. So as you explore the world of building this spooky season, remember that every safe structure stands on lessons learned from a few deadly mistakes.