Dose-Dependent Effects of Gamma Irradiation on Collagen in Vegetable Tanned Leather by Mobile NMR Spectroscopy

Abstract. Radiation sterilization has been considered a mass decontamination technique for biodegradable cultural heritage (CH) since its widespread application in the medical fi eld. Initial experiments have revealed advantages, for example, effi ciency and effectiveness, but also disadvantages, namely "side effects" concerning CH materials. More than 50 years later, the adequacy of ionizing radiation for some CH artefacts is still the subject of discussion. The main reason why is that science and industry are not yet able to provide a more effi cient technique for treating mass decontamination. For wooden items, there is general agreement that the irradiation dose required for insect eradication is not damaging, even in the case of polychromed wood. For cellulose pulp (paper), there is a reduction in polymerization degree (DP) at the high doses necessary to stop the attack of fungi, but this should be considered taking into account the purpose of the treatment. Emergency or rescue treatments are necessary to mitigate the consequences of accidents or improper storage conditions. In some cases (archives), the value of written information is greater than the historical value of the paper support. For other materials, namely textiles, leather and parchment, less research has been published on the effect of ionizing radiation treatment. As a general rule, irradiation is not necessary when only a few CH elements are present that are affected by biological contamination since restorers can solve the problem by classical means. The need for radiation treatment arises when large collections (hundreds, thousands or even more elements) are heavily affected by the biological attack. In Romania, the IRASM gamma irradiator of IFIN-HH is receiving an increasing number of requests for CH treatment, mainly due to an intensive research programme concerning this topic and close liaison with CH owners or administrators. Besides reviewing the scientifi c results obtained in Romania and abroad, this paper presents some examples from experiences in Romania.

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“…Fewer studies have been published concerning leather or parchment [32,33], textiles [34] and photographic/fi lm materials [35].…”

Section: Radiation Processing For Cultural Heritage Preservation -Rommentioning

confidence: 99%

Radiation processing for cultural heritage preservation – Romanian experience

et al. 2017

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“…This noninvasive and nondestructive approach proved to be very sensitive in studying the effects of deterioration factors on the organization of bound water within the collagen structure Şendrea et al, 2016a;Badea et al, 2008;Masic et al, 2012;Şendrea et al, 2015). Specific trends were observed for T 1 during hydrothermal accelerated ageing of parchments.…”

Section: Unilateral Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (Nmr)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Surface Characterisation of Parchments by Thermal Microscopy and Unilateral NMR

Badea¹,

Şendrea²,

Carsote³

et al. 2016

The International Conference on Advanced Materials and Systems

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The protection of parchment collections in public and private libraries, archives, museums face nowadays several challenges such as environmental pollution, climate change, limited energy consumption, lack of testing/diagnosis protocols in conservation science as well as lack of standardisation of best practices in conservation. In this paper, the applications of thermal microscopy (imageMHT) and unilateral NMR to surface characterisation of parchments are presented. As parchment is a biomaterial with hierarchical structure characterised by the intimate relationship and connectivity between individual molecules and their organisation in micro-fibrils, fibrils and fibres, a micro to nano-scale investigation protocol is required for a reliable assessment.

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“…High energy irradiation is a powerful tool for disinfection: archived and retained artifacts can be attacked and destroyed by microorganisms but they can be successfully treated in irradiation facilities, conventionally made with Co-60 gammaray sources (Adamo et al, 1998(Adamo et al, , 2001Magaudda, 2004;da Silva et al, 2006;D'Almeida et al, 2009;Nunes et al, 2012;Sendrea et al, 2015Sendrea et al, , 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the Ionizing Radiation Disinfection Treatment on Historical Leather

et al. 2020

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Microorganisms often cause significant damage on historical objects. The archive or library materials as well as textile or leather artifacts suffer serious attacks that need appropriate care treatments. Several biocide processes have been implemented but often their application does not preserve the material of the good. The objective of this work is the disinfection through ionizing radiation of leather wallpaper from the museum building Palazzo Chigi in Ariccia (Rome, Italy). The controlled sterilization treatments were carried out using X-ray beams to eliminate the microorganisms present on the leather and maintaining unchanged the properties of the constituent material. Some fragments of decorated leather wallpaper, dating back to the 1700s, were irradiated with X-rays up to 5,000 Gy. The amount of microorganisms was evaluated by microbiological analysis before and after X-ray irradiation treatments to identify the dose that inhibits the bacterial load. It will be shown how the results obtained by the application of different chemical-physical techniques (Scanning Electron Microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy and Light Transmission Analysis) have helped in the evaluation of the impact of the X-rays on leather chemical and physical integrity.

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Dose-Dependent Effects of Gamma Irradiation on Collagen in Vegetable Tanned Leather by Mobile NMR Spectroscopy

Cited by 15 publications

References 15 publications

Radiation processing for cultural heritage preservation – Romanian experience

Radiation processing for cultural heritage preservation – Romanian experience

Surface Characterisation of Parchments by Thermal Microscopy and Unilateral NMR

Effects of the Ionizing Radiation Disinfection Treatment on Historical Leather

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