The effect of volatile organic compounds and hypoxia on paper degradation

Strlič, Matija; Cigić, Irena Kralj; Možir, Alenka; Bruin, Gerrit de; Kolar, Jana; Cassar, May

doi:10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2010.12.017

Cited by 54 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Formic acid penetrates deeper inside stacks of papers than acetic acid, which reveals its potential for degradation in archives and libraries (Tétreault et al 2013). The removal of volatile organic compounds has a significant positive effect on paper stability and can, in certain cases, double their lifetime expectancy (Strlič et al 2011). In addition, in the present work it was found that the contents of acetic and formic acid were mutually correlated (see supplementary Table S1).…”

Section: Changes In the Amount Of Acetic And Formic Acidssupporting

confidence: 58%

Changes in the Chemical and Physical Properties of Paper Documents due to Natural Ageing

Čabalová¹,

Kačík²,

Gojný³

et al. 2017

BioResources

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Section: Changes In the Amount Of Acetic And Formic Acidssupporting

confidence: 58%

Changes in the Chemical and Physical Properties of Paper Documents due to Natural Ageing

Čabalová¹,

Kačík²,

Gojný³

et al. 2017

BioResources

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“…Better ventilation may cause more input of dust, so precautions have to be taken to reduce the dust load. Acidic, lignin-containing or historic papers benefit from molecular sieves and active carbon in terms of degradation (Strlič et al 2011). Barriers may be made of aluminium plates or foils.…”

Section: Cabinetsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collection management and study of microscope slides: Storage, profiling, deterioration, restoration procedures, and general recommendations

Neuhaus

Schmid

Riedel

2017

Zootaxa

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A wide range of aspects concerning microscope slides, their preparation, long-time storage, curatorial measures in collections, deterioration, restoration, and study is summarized based on our own data and by analyzing more than 600 references from the 19th century until 2016, 15 patents, and about 100 Materials Safety Data Sheets. Information from systematic zoology, conservation sciences, chemistry, forensic sciences, pathology, paleopathology, applied sciences like food industry, and most recent advances in digital imaging are put together in order to obtain a better understanding of which and possibly why mounting media and coverslip seals deteriorate, how slides can be salvaged, which studies may be necessary to identify a range of ideal mounting media, and how microscope studies can benefit from improvements in developmental biology and related fields. We also elaborate on confusing usage of concepts like that of maceration and of clearing. The chemical ingredients of a range of mounting media and coverslip seals are identified as much as possible from published data, but this information suffers in so far as the composition of a medium is often proprietary of the manufacturer and may vary over time. Advantages, disadvantages, and signs of deterioration are documented extensively for these media both from references and from our own observations. It turns out that many media degrade within a few years, or decades at the latest, except Canada balsam with a documented life-time of 150 years, Euparal with a documented life-time of 50 years, and glycerol-paraffin mounts sealed with Glyceel, which represents almost the only non-deteriorating and easily reversible mount. Deterioration reveals itself as a yellowing in natural resins and as cracking, crystallization, shrinkage on drying or possibly on loss of a plasticizer, detachment of the coverslip, segregation of the ingredients in synthetic polymers, as well as continued maceration of a specimen to a degree that the specimen virtually disappears. Confusingly, decay does not always appear equally within a collection of slides mounted at the same time in the same medium. The reasons for the deteriorative processes have been discussed but are controversial especially for gum-chloral media. Comparing data from conservation sciences, chemical handbooks, and documented ingredients, we discuss here how far chemical and physical deterioration probably are inherent to many media and are caused by the chemical and physical properties of their components and by chemicals dragged along from previous preparation steps like fixation, chemical maceration, and physical clearing. Some recipes even contain a macerating agent, which proceeds with its destructive work. We provide permeability data for oxygen and water vapor of several polymers contained in mounting media and coverslip seals. Calculation of the penetration rate of moisture in one example reveals that water molecules reach a specimen within a few days up to about a month; this lays to rest extensive discussions about the permanent protection of a mounted specimen by a mounting medium and a coverslip seal. Based on the ever growing evidence of the unsuitable composition and application of many, and possibly almost all, mounting media, we strongly encourage changing the perspective on microscope slides from immediate usability and convenience of preparation towards durability and reversibility, concepts taken from conservation sciences. Such a change has already been suggested by Upton (1993) more than 20 years ago for gum-chloral media, but these media are still encouraged nowadays by scientists. Without a new perspective, taxonomic biology will certainly lose a large amount of its specimen basis for its research within the next few decades. Modern non-invasive techniques like Raman spectroscopy may help to identify mounting media and coverslip seals on a given slide as well as to understand ageing of the media. An outlook is given on potential future studies. In order to improve the situation of existing collections of microscope slides, we transfer concepts as per the Smithsonian Collections Standards and Profiling System, developed for insect collections more than 25 years ago, to collections of slides. We describe historical and current properties and usage of glass slides, coverslips, labels, and adhesives under conservational aspects. In addition, we summarize and argue from published and our own experimental information about restorative procedures, including re-hydration of dried-up specimens previously mounted in a fluid medium. Alternatives to microscope slides are considered. We also extract practical suggestions from the literature concerning microscope equipment, cleaning of optical surfaces, health risks of immersion oil, and recent improvements of temporary observation media especially in connection with new developments in digital software.

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“…Acid-catalysed hydrolysis is a major cause of paper strength loss [5,7], although other mechanisms may take place as well, such as oxidation and thermal degradation [7,8], depending on the experimental conditions. The effect of oxygen on the hydrolytic pathway should not be neglected, as differences between accelerated ageing in argon and air [8] and nitrogen and air have been observed [9]. Paper degradation should be regarded as a complex process, in which hydrolysis may be the fastest degradation mechanism [10], but not the only relevant one.…”

Section: Published In Polym Degradmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dose–response functions for historic paper

Menart

Bruin

Strlič

2011

Polymer Degradation and Stability

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Paper degradation has been studied extensively over the past few decades from both the conservation and the material science perspectives. This review focuses on the quantifiable impacts of the environment and material composition, from the viewpoint of long-term storage of historic paper-based collections. Therefore, temperature, relative humidity and their variation, and pollution are of major interest while photoinitiated processes are covered only briefly.New experiments comparing the effects of the most abundant indoor pollutants (NO 2 , acetic acid and formaldehyde) and the effects of fluctuating temperature and relative humidity are also presented as part of the discussion. This work highlights the need for revision of the existing doseresponse (damage) functions for paper and their further development. KeywordsHistoric paper; hydrolysis; oxidation; viscometry; colorimetry; heritage science Historic paperDespite the ubiquity of electronic media, paper is still the most generally readable carrier of information. In heritage institutions, collections of documents of the past are being preserved for posterity. It has been estimated that in a typical Western repository, 70-80% of these documents [1] are likely to be acidic and therefore prone to rapid deterioration, their useful lifetime being about a century, a couple at best. This is in a stark contrast to paper produced before ca. 1850, the lifetime of which may be longer for at least a factor of 10 [1]. For curators of these collections, interventive conservation is an option, although the throughput of even mass treatments [2] is not sufficient to address the scale of the problem and the resources are too limited. Stab 96 (2011Stab 96 ( ) 2029Stab 96 ( -2039 2 In many cases, preventive conservation is therefore the preferred option. However, environmental managers may struggle with the abundance of literature available on environmental effects on paper degradation and the surprisingly scarce data that is well quantified and relevant not only to the scientist but to the user as well. Unlike a recent comprehensive review of the basic mechanistic and thermodynamic concepts [3], the focus of the present review is to provide an overview of dose response functions, based on which environmental management in paper-based collections could be optimised to minimise degradation while optimising resource use. Published in Polym DegradThe main structural component of paper is cellulose. As a linear homopolymer, it is composed of identical monomers and scission of inter-monomer bonds leads to its degradation [4]. It is well known that apart from temperature, water (humidity) and acidity in paper are important factors in its degradation [5][6][7]. Acid-catalysed hydrolysis is a major cause of paper strength loss [5,7], although other mechanisms may take place as well, such as oxidation and thermal degradation [7,8], depending on the experimental conditions. The effect of oxygen on the hydrolytic pathway should not be neglected, as differences between accelerate...

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The effect of volatile organic compounds and hypoxia on paper degradation

Cited by 54 publications

References 17 publications

Changes in the Chemical and Physical Properties of Paper Documents due to Natural Ageing

Changes in the Chemical and Physical Properties of Paper Documents due to Natural Ageing

Collection management and study of microscope slides: Storage, profiling, deterioration, restoration procedures, and general recommendations

Dose–response functions for historic paper

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