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In 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium.
1898年，居里夫人与皮埃尔·居里发现了镭。
Claimed to have restorative properties, radium was added to toothpaste, medicine, water, and food.
镭被宣称具有修护的特性，牙膏、药物、水、食物中都会添加镭。
A glowing, luminous green, it was also used in beauty products and jewelry.
由于镭的绿色带有光泽感，它也用于美容产品和珠宝制作。
It wasn't until the mid-20th century we realized that
直到19世纪中期我们才意识到，
radium's harmful effects as a radioactive element outweighed its visual benefits.
镭作为一种放射性元素，带来的害处超过了其好处。
Unfortunately, radium isn't the only pigment that historically seemed harmless or useful but turned out to be deadly.
然而不幸的是，在历史上，镭并不是唯一的看上去无害、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: white, green, and orange.
长期以来，我们使用它们来装饰自己及物品，它们是：白，绿，橙。
Our story begins with white.
我们先来说说白色。
As far back as the 4th century BCE,
早在公元前四世纪，
the Ancient Greeks treated lead to make the brilliant white pigment we know today. The problem?
古希腊人使用铅来制作白色颜料。问题在于什么呢？
In humans, lead is directly absorbed into the body and distributed to the blood, soft tissues, and mineralized tissues.
对于人而言，铅可以直接吸收进人体，进入血液、软组织以及矿化组织。
Once in the nervous system, lead mimics and disrupts the normal functions of calcium,
铅一旦进入神经系统，会模仿并干扰钙元素的正常功能，
causing damages ranging from learning disabilities to high blood pressure.
造成的损害轻则使人出现学习障碍，重则导致高血压。
Yet the practice of using this toxic pigment continued across time and cultures.
但使用这种剧毒颜料的工艺在很多文化中持续了很久。
Lead white was the only practical choice for white oil or tempera paint until the 19th century.
直到19世纪，铅白是唯一的白油和蛋彩颜料的实用选择。
To make their paint, artists would grind a block of lead into powder, exposing highly toxic dust particles.
艺术家为了作画，会将铅块磨成粉末，这样他们会充分接触这些剧毒的粉尘。
The pigment's liberal use resulted in what was known as painter's colic, or what we'd now call lead poisoning.
这种颜料的过分使用导致了画家们的腹绞痛，我们现在称之为铅中毒。
Artists who worked with lead complained of palseys, melancholy, coughing, enlarged retinas, and even blindness.
使用铅的画家会出现肌肉麻痹、心情忧郁、咳嗽、视网膜放大，甚至失明。
But lead white's density, opacity, and warm tone were irresistible to artists like Vermeer, and later, the Impressionists.
但是铅白的质感、不透明性和温暖的色调，令包括弗美尔及之后的印象派画家难以放弃。
Its glow couldn't be matched, and the pigment continued to be widely used until it was banned in the 1970s.
没有其他颜料可以媲美铅白的光泽，这种颜料继续广泛使用，直到1970年代才将其禁止。
As bad as all that sounds, white's dangerous effects pale in comparison to another, more wide-spread pigment, green.
如上所述，铅白带来的危险性，与另一种颜料相比则顿失光芒，那就是广泛使用的绿色。
Two synthetic greens called Scheele's Green and Paris Green were first introduced in the 18th century.
谢勒绿和巴黎绿是两种合成的绿色色素，18世纪时首次问世。
They were far more vibrant and flashy than the relatively dull greens made from natural pigments,
相比于天然染料较沉闷的绿色，它们的颜色更加明亮鲜艳，
so they quickly became popular choices for paint as well as dye for textiles,
因此这两种色素迅速流行，用于绘画、纺织品染色、
wallpaper, soaps, cake decorations, toys, candy, and clothing.
壁纸、香皂、蛋糕装饰、玩具、糖果、衣物。
These green pigments were made from a compound called cupric hydrogen arsenic.
这些绿色的染料由某种化合物制成，这种化合物称为砷酸铜。
In humans, exposure to arsenic can damage the way cells communicate and function.
人如果接触砷，会损伤细胞交换及运作功能。
And high levels of arsenic have been directly linked to cancer and heart disease.
高剂量的砷与癌症和心脏疾病直接相关。
As a result, 18th century fabric factory workers were often poisoned,
因此在十八世纪，纺织厂工人经常出现中毒，
and women in green dresses reportedly collapsed from exposure to arsenic on their skin.
且据报道，穿绿裙子的女性因皮肤接触裙子上的砷而昏倒。
Bed bugs were rumored not to live in green rooms,
还有传言说臭虫也不会生活在绿色的房间中，
and it's even been speculated that Napoleon died from slow arsenic poisoning from sleeping in his green wallpapered bedroom.
人们甚至推测拿破仑就死于慢性砷中毒，因为他睡在自己那铺着绿色壁纸的卧室。
The intense toxicity of these green stayed under wraps until the arsenic recipe was published in 1822.
这种剧毒的绿色一直处于保密状态，直到1822年发布了砷的配方。
And a century later, it was repurposed as an insecticide.
一个世纪之后，这种化合物摇身一变成为杀虫剂。
Synthetic green was probably the most dangerous color in widespread use,
合成绿色染料或许是广泛使用的颜色中最为危险的，
but at least it didn't share radium's property of radioactivity.
但至少它并没有镭的放射性。
Another color did, though -- orange.
而另一种颜色则具备这一特性--橙色。
Before World War II, it was common for manufacturers of ceramic dinnerware to use uranium oxide in colored glazes.
第二次世界大战之前，陶瓷餐具制造商在釉彩中使用氧化铀式非常普遍的。
The compound produced brilliant reds and oranges, which were appealing attributes, if not for the radiation they emitted.
这种化合物能够产生鲜艳的红色和橙色，如果不是因为放射性，那么这些颜色都是吸引人的特点。
Of course, radiation was something we were unaware of until the late 1800s,
当然，放射性是在19世纪晚期才为我们意识到的，
let alone the associated cancer risks, which we discovered much later.
更不用提在更久之后才发现的与辐射相关的癌症风险。
During World War II, the U.S. government confiscated all uranium for use in bomb development.
在第二次世界大战期间，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,
然而在1959年，原子能委员会放松了管制，
and depleted uranium returned to ceramics and glass factory floors.
铀重新回到了瓷器和玻璃工厂。
Orange dishes made during the next decade may still have some hazardous qualities on their surfaces to this day.
接下来十年中生产的橙色餐盘，表面很可能至今仍然具有危险的特质。
Most notably, vintage fiestaware reads positive for radioactivity.
最重要的是，经典的节日用具仍在监测放射性时被显示为阳性。
And while the levels are low enough that they don't officially pose a health risk if they're on a shelf,
虽然如果这些餐盘被束之高阁时，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,
我们虽然偶尔会遇到合成的食物染料，
our scientific understanding has helped us prune hazardous colors out of our lives.
但科学认知已经帮我们在生活中去掉了那些危险的颜色。
