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Throughout history there have been wonderful colors that unfortunately due to having toxic and poisonous compounds contained within them have been banned from use. Either private or commercial. There are many different colors each with a particular reason for being banned and denied to an artist's palate of colors.
When these colors were created they were made with toxic metals and minerals, lead, poisonous parts of plants and mordants made from metalic salts. Today in 2086 these colors are still poisonous and toxic, yet made worse by many metahumans being hyperallergic to many substances found in the world. Even with all the new technology and varying chemical applications that have been developed these colors are still toxic and dangerous to be used.
Does this mean that an unscrupulous agency does not use these pigments somewhere in the world? Probably not if using them will increase their profit margin. Regardless here is a list.
Orpiment: A vibrant yellow made with an arsenic mineral.
Realgar: A rich red made with a similar mineral to orpiment with a different composition made this color toxic. Eventually it was used as a rat poison.
Lead White: Lead White, the fastest drying of all the shades of white and one of the brightest, containing lead made it carcinogenic.
Vermilion: A vibrant red or scarlet color made from ground cinnabar, a form of mercury sulfide. It was greatly prized for it's rarity and value.
Naples Yellow: Another lead based pigment.
Scheele's Green: This bright beautiful pigment much more vibrant than natural green contained cupric hydrogen arsenic. It was used in a plethora of household goods. People literally died surrounded by green.
Paris Green: An improvement on Scheele's Green that would not fade over time, this paint still contains arsenic compounds. It too found it's way to being used to kill rats.
Uranium Orange: A vibrant red and orange made with uranium oxide, this color is radioactive. If you have any antique dishes and ceramics made with this, you should avoid using them for eating and drinking.
Cobalt Blue: A deep rich blue, made with cobalt as byproduct from silver and nickle mining, cobalt is a poison that should not be ingested or have its vapors inhaled.
Perkins Mauve: A lovely purple, made with metalic salts it is more toxic to the environment than other synthetic purples are. It was a great deal less expensive than other colors such as Tyrian Purple.
One might be able to find these old paints. One never knows what might be found in a vintage shop. So if you do, be safe using them unless you want to kill a rat.
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