If you come across brightly coloured, cloth-bound books from the Victorian era, handle them carefully, or avoid them altogether. These books could be hiding toxic dyes that pose health risks to readers, collectors, or librarians, according to research on Sunday. 

Researchers at Lipscomb University in the US assessed the dangerous dyes in a university collection and found some volumes may be unsafe to handle. Users risk exposure if pigments from these cloth covers rub off onto their hands or become airborne, they said.