> "I find it fascinating to know what previous generations thought was safe, and then we learn, oh, actually, that might not have been a great idea to use these brilliant dyes," Weinstein-Webb says.

Yep. William Morris was a divil for this, and refused to acknowledge the dangers well past when they were known.

I wonder though - in terms of human potential and lives lost, do all of those examples put together come anywhere near what we're doing today with PFAS, microplastics, agricultural & industrial runoff, neonicotinoids, etc.?

It's easy to point fingers now and laugh at the Victorians smearing lead pain on their face, or the folks taking radioactive suppositories for health... Fun too. But like... We're in the most glassy house imaginable.

We know better, like Morris, but we're still letting people away with this stuff (and even imprisoning the activists fighting it). Takes a lot of the fun out of it :/