Mold on books

In response to Annie Armour-Jones' message about the mold-infested books
they are about to acquire, I am wondering if sterilization with ethylene
oxide has been totally abandoned by libraries and museums.  It seems
that the cost of removing spines, rebinding, quarantine and monitoring
for recurrence of fungal growth is extremely high in both time and
money.  Sterilization/fumigation with ETO would be a much simpler way to
achieve the same result but without altering the books Despite the
concerns that prevail about ETO, there are simple ways to reduce the
residue level (such as forced aeration) that are relatively inexpensive.
Any potential effect of the ETO on the books would be far less than the
drastic surgery proposed for this collection.  In instances like this,
we are balancing the factors of safety to personnel and objects, and
time and money economics.  Any comments?

Geoffrey Brown
Kelsey Museum
University of Michigan

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:32
                 Distributed: Tuesday, November 1, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-32-003
                                  ***