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[PADG:564] Re: treating mold in archives and book collections
Title: Re: [PADG:547] treating mold in archives and book
collecti
Dear Patti,
In response to your recent
query to the list about "experience treating mold on archives and
bound materials in house," we are in the process of setting up a
room at the HRC that will be dedicated to cleaning mold-contaminated
collection materials. It is scheduled to be operational by the end of
the summer at which time I will have more details. Our conservation
and administrative staff has just begun working with the University
Environmental Health and Safety Department (EHS) and HVAC engineers
and this outside input has been enormously helpful.
The mold remediation room will
be equipped with an, as yet undetermined, air ventilation and
filtration system. The system should contain the mold and remove
particulates from the room air. The addition of localized equipment in
the workroom has also allayed EHS concerns that operation of the fume
hood could heat up the workspace making it uncomfortable or worse for
staff.
(Originally it was thought
that use of a fume hood would be sufficient to contain the mold during
cleaning; but because oversize works of art as well as paper documents
and books will be cleaned in this room, the additional air filtration
system was found to be necessary. We had also planned on installing a
germicidal UV fixture in the room, as they do in the university
mycology labs, to reduce the level of viable mold spores. By adding
the air filtration system to reduce the levels of mold in the room,
EHS felt that germicidal UV lamps were not needed. [EHS had expressed
concern about the use of UV lamps due to recent eye damage to several
university staff caused by UV exposure.])
The walls of the mold remediation room will be painted with a washable
gloss paint to facilitate cleaning. The paint will be mixed with
Intercept? a mold inhibitor.
We will remove mold from collection materials in a ductless fume hood,
unless the item is too large to fit into the hood. Depending on their
physical condition, we will clean documents by aspirating with a HEPA
vac using micro tools. When cleaning books, a magnetic wiping fabric,
such as the Dust Bunny?, or a soot sponge is used after
aspiration.
While cleaning, staff will wear personal protective gear including
Tyvek? coveralls and hats, booties, goggles, nitrile gloves and
respiratory protection- either an N95 mask or a respirator.
Conservation staff generally
cleans contaminated materials. Unfortunately at this time, we have a
large quantity of moldy materials, so, fortunately, we will be hiring
additional staff to work on a couple of remediation
projects.
Following the cleaning of the
mold contaminated materials, our institution will have to work out an
approach to the storage and access of these materials. There has not
been research in our field as to the effectiveness of our methods of
cleaning mold contaminated materials, although, currently, it is
assumed that mold cannot be completely removed from the porous
structure of paper and book cloth. We also do not know how long
mycotoxins, antigens, or other irritants found in mold metabolic parts
remain viable and could, therefore, cause health
problems.
There is more information
about how various institutions treat mold-contaminated materials in
the recently posted responses to the "Survey on Acquisition,
Treatment, Access, and Storage of Moldy Materials". The survey
was posted on PADG [2319] and Cons DistList (17:59) in March 2004.
Responses can be found at
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/primanis/mold_survey_summary_2004-10.html
I am sure that many of the commercial restoration vendors have
dealt with moldy materials. I have had several discussions with Kirk
Lively, Director of the Technical Services Division, at Belfor in Fort
Worth and found him to be knowledgeable about the general topic of
mold contamination of library and archive materials as well as its
removal.
Of the many information resources available, I have learned a great
deal about mold and its remediation from the following
texts:
-"Mould Prevention and
Collection Recovery: Guidelines for Heritage Collections" by Sherry
Guild and Maureen MacDonald (CCI 2004) gives excellent info on
cleaning mold contaminated materials.
-"Fungal Facts" by Mary Lou Florian (Archetype Books,
2003)
-"Bio Aerosols Assessment
and Control" (ACGIH 1999)
Good luck,
Olivia
Hello,
I would very much like to talk to people who have experience treating
mold on archives and bound materials in house, and those who contract
work on moldy materials to outside vendors.
In particular, I am interested to learn more about your in-house
facilities (where you treat materials in your building, what equipment
you use); the type of staff who carry out the procedures; and the
general the techniques you use to treat mold.
If you have experience sending materials out for treatment, I would be
especially interested to hear about your experiences. I would like to
learn where people send their materials, the amount of material they
send, and general costs for treatments.
Any information is welcomed,
Patti Gibbons
Patti Gibbons
Preservation Manager
Special Collections Research Center
University of Chicago Library
1100 East 57th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
t (773) 702-6027, f (773) 702-3728
pgibbons@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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