Mold inhibitors

Karen Brown <kebrown [at] nedcc__org> writes

>I would like to ask if anyone on the DistList knows about a "mold
>inhibitor" that is being used with one name brand of archival
>storage boxes.  Through earlier investigation we discovered that the
>chemical being used is called "BUSAN 30."

Karen: I'm only aware of a little information Busan 30. No idea what
it might do to objects in the long run, although it is a thiol
(three sulfurs), but I don't know what the stability is like.

If you want to go looking for it, it's

  thiocyanic acid (2-benzothiazolylthio)methyl ester

AKA

  2-(Thiocyanomethyli-thio)-benzothiazole; TCMTB;
  (2-benzothizaolylthio)methyl thiocyanate;
  2-(thiocyanomethylthio)benzothazole; Busan;
  2-[(thiocyanotomethyl)thio]-benzothiazole;
  2(thiocyanate-methylthio)benzothiazole; Benzothazolylthio)methyl
  thiocyanate; (Thiocyanomethylthio)benzothiazole;
  BUSAN 30; BUSAN 30A, BUSAN 72; BUSAN 72A (apparently discontinued)

Apparently BUSAN 30A is an "emulsifiable liquid" containing 30%
TCMTB. (Don't know what that means for BUSAN 30 though.) BUSAN 72 is
apparently a 60% TCMTB formulation.

CAS registry number is 21564-17-0
C9H6N2S3 (mw 238.3)

It's made by

    Buckman Laboratories, Inc.
    1256 North McLean Boulevard, Memphis, TN 38108
    901-278-0330
    Fax: 901-276-5343

and is listed as quite a number of different categories of products.
Among other things it's for treatment of seeds and soil against
various diseases of crops. Some literature specifically mentions
barley, cotton, corn, oats, rice, and wheat. Also used as a
fungicide for paint, and a wood preservative against rot, termites,
mildew and decay.

According to the Canadian Department of Agriculture, it's
"practically insoluble in water" which may be a blessing for us. It
also has a pretty low vapor pressure (5 X 10^-2 mm Hg). Dermal LD50
(rabbits) is 10,000 mg/kg. Oral (rat) is 1590 mg/kg.

Apparently more information can be found in at least these 3
publications (lifted from info from the Cornell Pesticide Management
Education Program at <URL:http://pmep.cce.cornell.edu>)

Canada Department of Agriculture, Production and Marketing Branch,
Plant Products Division. 1972. Memorandum (re:
2-(thiocyuanomethylthio) benzothiazole). Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Harding, W. C. 1979-80. Pesticide profiles, part two: fungicides and
nematicides. Univ. Maryland, Coop. Ext. Service Bull. 283, 22 pp.

Farm Chemical Handbook, 70th ed. 1984. R. T. Meister, G. L. Berg, C.
Sine, S. Meister, and J. Poplyk, eds. Meister Publishing Co.,
Willoughby, OH.

If anyone wants them (and can receive attachments MIME compliant
attachments in at least whatever version Netscape Communicator 4.05
is using) I can send the IR and mass spectra from NIST.

We may already have some of it around. Apparently Buckman Labs makes
a "multifunctional" pigment called Busan 11-M1 that's supposed to be
a "package preservative," corrosion inhibitor, fungicide, UV
stabilizer, "tannin stain blocking agent," fire retardant, and
"white rust" inhibitor (for paints with high zinc.) Kinda makes you
wonder what's in your paint.

-Doug

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:30
                Distributed: Friday, September 25, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-12-30-002
                                  ***