6 HEALTH AND SAFETY DATA

Conservators who plan to utilize laser stain removal (LSR) should always wear appropriate eye protection in the form of laser blocking goggles to prevent reflected or direct exposure of the laser light from entering one's eye. Laser light at the intensities utilized in these studies will cause instantaneous, irreversible blindness.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We wish to acknowledge the assistance of assistant professor J. W. Thoman, Jr., of the Williams College Chemistry Department for making the laser in his laboratory available to us and for his assistance in several of the experiments. We also wish to thank Nancy Piatszyc, electron microscope technician at the Williams College Bronfman Science Center, for her guidance and assistance with the electron microscopy, and Michael Heslip, painting conservator, Williamstown Regional Art Conservation Laboratory, Williamstown, Massachusetts, for kindly donating the artwork used in this study.