Decontamination of Biocide Treated Museum Objects of the Swiss National Museum's Collection by Liquid CO2 Technology. (17th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wörle, Marie; Lombardo, Tiziana; Hubert, Vera; Hildbrand, Erwin; Mürau, Elke; Mayer, Ingo; Hinterleitner, Christina; von Arx, Urs; Moser, Hansruedi; Lehmann, Roland
• Is Part Of: Studies in conservation. Volume 65:Number 2(2020)
• Page Start: 77
• Page End: 85
• Publication Date: 2020-02-17
• Subjects: Museum objects -- biocide contamination -- decontamination -- liquid CO2; Art objects -- Conservation and restoration -- Periodicals; 700.288
• DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2019.1662644
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0039-3630

Abstract

ABSTRACT: A decontamination treatment using liquid CO2 (li-CO2 ) and specifically developed for the requirements of museum objects (Lombardo, T., M. Wörle, V. Hubert, E. Hildbrand, I. Mayer, C. Hinterleitner, U. von Arx. 2020. "Influence of Process Parameters on Chlorinated Biocide Decontamination by li-CO2 on Artificially Contaminated Model Materials." Studies in Conservation, in press, doi:10.1080/00393630.2019.1641001 ) was first tested on model materials of wood (with and without coating), silk, and wool with different dyes, paper, and leather in order to evaluate possible material changes. Then, selected museum objects from the collection of the Swiss National Museum were treated to determine the efficiency of biocide decontamination and any resulting chemical and/or structural changes. Results show that dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), pentachlorophenol (PCP), lindane, and chlorpyrifos were successfully removed. Wool, silk, leather, and non-coated wood did not experience any detectable modifications, while moderate to major modifications were observed in wood coated with shellac and polychromy.