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Historical Review. Of garlic, mice and Gmelin: the odor of trimethylarsine
Author(s) -
Chasteen Thomas G.,
Wiggli Markus,
Bentley Ronald
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
applied organometallic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.53
H-Index - 71
eISSN - 1099-0739
pISSN - 0268-2605
DOI - 10.1002/aoc.299
Subject(s) - odor , german , chemistry , action (physics) , toxicology , history , biology , archaeology , organic chemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
In the 19th century, rooms were frequently decorated with wallpaper containing arsenical pigments; illness and fatalities often resulted. In 1839, Leopold Gmelin described a mouse‐like odor under those conditions. Much later, it was recognized that the problem was the formation of toxic and volatile trimethylarsine by fungal action. Gmelin's observation was misreported as a garlic‐like odor that is characteristic of trimethylarsine. Gmelin's original article in German and an English translation are included, and possible explanations for the incorrect reporting and for the original observation are described. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.