Powder Struggle: How a Contaminated Rare Book Collection Led to a New Paradigm of Collaboration at Harvard

Abstract

In 2015 staff in Harvard University’s Widener Library discovered an unidentified white powder in a few early twentieth-century books in Persian and Urdu languages that had been acquired four years previously from a rare book dealer in Pakistan. The powder was positively identified as the insecticides Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane(DDT), Coumaphos, and several derivatives. Later it became evident that these volumes were part of a large collection and that potentially thousands of volumes were contaminated. Various exposure assessments were followed by cleaning and reassessment which revealed that risks to persons were infinitely small. However, a bioassay revealed that the pesticide residues were still biologically active. The transparency of communication and demonstrated collaboration between Safety, Facilities, and Library personnel generated trust among staff that their health and safety were paramount. This trust was key to subsequent incidents of contaminated collections and our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.