Abstract
The control of air quality in museum showcases is a growing issue for the conservation of the displayed artefacts. Inside an airtight showcase, volatile substances may rapidly concentrate and favor or directly cause the degradation or other unwanted phenomena on the objects. The role of materials used in the construction of museum display cases as a source of pollutants and volatile compounds dangerous for the cultural heritage integrity is here reviewed with an illustration of consequences and critical damages. Ways of assessing the suitability of materials used either in the construction or in use of the display cases are also discussed altogether with an overview of the possible choices for monitoring the air quality and limiting the concentration of volatile compounds in their interior.
Highlights
The quality of air in the museum environment is of primary importance in determining conditions appropriate for the collections conservation
Ions sampled on the surface of glass vessels from different museums revealed, among others, the presence of acetate and formate anions, which are attributed to the emission of formic acid, acetic acid, and formaldehyde from the wood or wood composite materials used in storage or display [30]
The definition perfectly applies to the cultural heritage domain, where an advance of knowledge is necessary about indoor volatile organic compounds (VOCs), their effects on museum collections, and affordable techniques for their measurements
Summary
The quality of air in the museum environment is of primary importance in determining conditions appropriate for the collections conservation. Museum display cases are labeled conservation grade when they guarantee 0.1, or less, air change per day With such air tightness values, gases and pollutants originated by the construction materials of the display case may become a problem when their concentration builds up and reaches values dangerous for the exposed objects. The nature and quality of volatile compounds emitted from materials used in the manufacturing and finishing of museum display cases is discussed in regard to the harms that can be brought to the heritage objects. The paper is organized in sections that discuss the volatile emissions from display cases and museum enclosures with a focus on the pollutant effects and the provenance materials, the pollutant levels for artifacts deterioration, the evaluation of emissions from display case constituent materials, and the viable solutions for the control and removal of emissions
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