Radiation treatment of cultural heritage objects made of leather treated with common preservatives

Abstract

Leather is a material that can be encountered on furniture or books, cultural heritage which is prone to biodegradation. Gamma irradiation is a convenient method for disinsection and disinfection of cultural heritage objects. In order to be used for treatment of leather made objects the behavior of both leather and the preservatives that are commonly used need to be well established.For the first time in this work the impact of gamma irradiation on goat leather previously treated by common leather preservatives used for bookbinding was investigated. Pure goat leather, as well as goat leather treated by two different wax based commercial preservatives, Fredelka formula leather preservative/restorer and Talas SC600 leather conditioner, was irradiated with different doses and dose rates. The samples were investigated by colorimetry and FTIR and their pH was measured. The novel results have shown that the type of preservative used plays a role in observing changes in irradiated goat skin. The detectable changes were noticed only at doses higher than the recommended doses used for treatment of cultural heritage objects, i.e. up to 10 kGy no changes were detected.