Pesticide Contamination and Archaeological Collections: Contextual Information for Preparing a Pesticide History

Abstract

The issue of pesticide-contaminated archaeological collections has generated concern among staff in collecting institutions. Pesticides have long been used, but the awareness of their unseen persistence and their potential as a human health hazard is a new aspect of preventive conservation. Background information and guidelines for developing a pesticide history are provided for repositories, museums, cultural resource management companies in the private and public sectors, academia, and other public collections.

Biological risk assessment in the History and Historical Documentation Library of the University of Milan

“…However, the use of most of these products is restricted by the European Union's Biocidal Products Directives (BPD, 2016), because of their hazards for human health, considering that certain insecticide formulations, when sprayed on surfaces, can release molecules of insecticide and solvents into the air. In addition, only a small number of agents have been tested with respect to their compatibility with historic materials and only few studies have dealt with the temporal efficiency of these practices (Odegaard, 2019).…”

Confronting the Present: Archaeology in 2019

“…The advent of nuclear archaeology, with its focus on modernity's obstinate pollution, invokes the overwhelming materiality of late capitalism, which has produced continents of plastic garbage, mountains of toxic material, and vast barren wastelands—“objects in excess of monstrosity” (Witmore 2019, 137). Modernity's permeation of the archaeological record also comes through in Odegaard's (2019) prospectus for treating archaeological collections that have been contaminated by pesticides, signaling a new dimension in the occupational hazards of the profession.…”

A Long View of Archaeological Collections Care, Preservation, and Management

“…They call on collections personnel to serve as a resource for field archaeologists who may need advice about in-field preservation methods and preparing collections for the repository (e.g., how to number and pack artifacts). Nancy Odegaard (2019) reviews the use of pesticides on legacy collections. She explains how to create a pesticide history and mitigate the effects of pesticides to reduce health hazards in the repository and before repatriation.…”