Ventilation

Sylvia Schweri <sylvia [at] ica-artconservation__org> writes

>Does anyone how many air changes per hour are recommended for a
>conservation lab space?  Also, if this number cannot be met, what an
>acceptable minimum might be?  The space would primarily host object
>conservation projects, using less offensive solvents in small
>quantities.  In literature on lab design, I have found
>recommendations such as 10 air changes/hour- but perhpaps this
>number is more suited for large scale science labs (our architect
>winced at this figure).

You should probably consult with an HVAC engineer who has worked on
lab systems.  Give them the specifics of the chemicals that you will
be using and the estimated amounts.  It sounds like you will be
dealing more with dust control than chemicals.  The air changes/hour
method has some drawbacks since it doesn't take into account the
amount of solvents in the air, and it provides less ventilation for
a small room than a large room.  Kodak recommends 10 changes/hour
for darkrooms, for example.  The architectural specification table
that I looked in goes by cubic feet per minute/person, and
recommends 10 cfm/person for laboratories, along with local exhaust
for toxic chemicals. Good general references on the subject for your
situation would be  "Ventilation"  by Nancy Clark, et al, Nick Lyons
Books, The Center of Occupational Hazards, Inc., 1984, and "The
Artist's Complete Health and Safety Guide" by Monona Rossol,
Allworth Press, 1990.

Paul S. Storch
Senior Objects Conservator
Daniels Objects Conservation Laboratory (DOCL)
B-109.1, Minnesota History Center
345 Kellogg Blvd. West
St. Paul, MN  55102-1906
651-297-5774
Fax: 651-297-2967


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 19:34
                Distributed: Thursday, February 2, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-19-34-011
                                  ***