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2012
Conference Paper
Titel
The application of adsorbent media for sustainable mitigation of organic pollutants
Abstract
The impact of organic pollutants in museum interiors and especially in museum showcases is still of great concern for museum conservators. In the context of the ongoing MEMORI project, which is funded under the seventh framework programme, laboratory trials have been performed in order to evaluate the applicability of adsorbent media inside of museum enclosures for improving microclimates within preventive conservation strategies. A range of different kinds of activated charcoal, charcoal cloth, zeolithes and silica gel has been subjected to test series under active and passive conditions (with/without air exchange) in order to identify the most effective adsorbent materials. Formaldehyde, formic acid, acetic acid, toluene and alpha-pinene have been selected as target substances due to their known corrosive impact on cultural assets as weil as due to their frequent occurrence in museum environments. The article summarizes the research results which revealed clear differences between the filtration efficiency of the tested media, also concerning the mitigation of specific target substances. In the ongoing research the performance of adsorbents, which proved to be good in laboratory trials, will be checked also on-site in museum enclosures targeting on the development of sustainable mitigation strategies.