AIC's 46th Annual Meeting

We have been examining and testing a range of building, construction, and housing materials for their suitability and level of risk to a range of collection materials. Upon initial testing of proposed materials for use in two large construction/renovation projects, a substantial number of the materials were found to fail the standard Oddy metal coupon test, often in a rather unusual and/or spectacular manner. It should be noted that the original Oddy test focused on the impact on metal only, rather than considering the impact on other material compounds as the dose recipient (such as paper, parchment, polymers, etc.). We have been examining the compounds emitted by these construction and housing materials and how they interact/react with the metal coupons. Through the use of thermal desorption gas chromatography mass spectrometry, we are able to identify and quantify the compounds emitted from each material. In addition, other analytical tools are being utilized to examine what compounds are depositing or have reacted at the surface of the Oddy test coupons during exposure to elevated temperatures and humidity. Coordinating and comparing the chemical analyses with the results from the Oddy test are improving our ability to understand the mechanism(s) behind the failure of the Oddy test and, in turn, guide and speed material product selection. Testing of proposed materials aims to minimize risk to the collection but this risk often cannot be entirely removed by product choice alone. As a means of mitigating the residual risk from volatiles, we have also examinined and characterized commercially available sorbent materials for their selectivity, capacity, functionality and adsorption/desorption characteristics. This presentation will detail our on-going research using quantitative volatile organic compound analyses of building, construction, housing, and sorbent materials to further understand and minimize the risk to the range of materials in our collections during storage and exhibition.