Volatile aldehydes in libraries and archives

Tools

Fenech, Ann and Cigic, Irena Kralj and Levart, Alenka and Gibson, Lorraine T. and de Bruin, Gerrit and Ntanos, Konstantinos and Kolar, Jana and Cassar, May (2010) Volatile aldehydes in libraries and archives. Atmospheric Environment, 44 (17). pp. 2067-2073. ISSN 1352-2310 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.03.021)

[thumbnail of strathprints018738.pdf]
Preview
 PDF. Filename: strathprints018738.pdf
Accepted Author Manuscript
Download (464kB)| Preview

Abstract

Volatile aldehydes are produced during degradation of paper-based materials. This may result in their accumulation in archival and library repositories. However, no systematic study has been performed so far. In the frame of this study, passive sampling was carried out at ten locations in four libraries and archives. Despite the very variable sampling locations, no major differences were found, although air-filtered repositories were found to have lower concentrations while a non-ventilated newspaper repository exhibited the highest concentrations of volatile aldehydes (formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, furfural and hexanal). Five employees in one institution were also provided with personal passive samplers to investigate employees' exposure to volatile aldehydes. All values were lower than the presently valid exposure limits. The concentration of volatile aldehydes, acetic acid, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in general was also compared with that of outdoor-generated pollutants. It was evident that inside the repository and particularly inside archival boxes, the concentration of VOCs and acetic acid was much higher than the concentration of outdoor-generated pollutants, which are otherwise more routinely studied in connection with heritage materials. This indicates that further work on the pro-degradative effect of VOCs on heritage materials is necessary and that monitoring of VOCs in heritage institutions should become more widespread.

ORCID iDs

Fenech, Ann, Cigic, Irena Kralj, Levart, Alenka, Gibson, Lorraine T. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1461-5359, de Bruin, Gerrit, Ntanos, Konstantinos, Kolar, Jana and Cassar, May;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)