Rapid Pollution Off-Gassing Assessments of Museum Construction Materials by Gas Chromatographic Techniques

FAIN: PR-234564-16

Newfields (Indianapolis, IN 46208-3326)
Greg Smith (Project Director: June 2015 to April 2018)

Development of a rapid analytical protocol for measuring volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in materials used for the display, storage, and exhibition of cultural heritage materials. The new protocol would replace the outdated and inefficient “Oddy Test,” which is currently the only way to evaluate these materials for safety in library, museum, and archival settings. A faster and more reliable approach to materials testing has been a goal of conservators and conservation scientists for more than a decade. With this request, the Indianapolis Museum of Art Conservation Science Lab will continue a year-long collaboration with Butler University to develop an alternative protocol based on evolved gas analysis (EGA) that appears to offer improvements in testing time, accuracy, and range of detectable compounds.

The Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) proposes to develop and optimize a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis protocol with a broadly applicable volatiles sampling strategy to provide rapid, quantitative, and molecularly specific assessments of the emissions from construction materials considered for use in museums. The IMA Conservation Science Lab has worked to develop an alternative sampling strategy based on evolved gas analysis (EGA) that offers several advantages over other methods. Proposed research activities include further refinement of the EGA approach, comparison with other currently-practiced methodologies, examination of correlations between detected pollutants and observed damage to artists' materials, and provision of quantitative data regarding pollution levels. The instrumental protocol and resulting data will be made freely available to institutions and will directly impact confidence in the materials used within museums, libraries, and archives.

Associated Products

Relating volatiles analysis by GC–MS to Oddy test performance for determining the suitability of museum construction materials (Article)
Title: Relating volatiles analysis by GC–MS to Oddy test performance for determining the suitability of museum construction materials
Author: Gregory D. Smith
Author: Jericha Mill
Author: Mary C. Liggett
Author: Michael J. Samide
Abstract: Conservators’ decisions regarding the suitability of museum construction materials for use in proximity to artworks still rely heavily on accelerated corrosion tests like the Oddy test despite widespread criticisms. These issues include inconveniently long wait times, sensitivity to only those pollutants capable of tarnishing metals, a general sense of unreliability, exaggerated environmental conditions, and subjectivity in assessing the test’s results. Increasingly, alternative strategies that use instrumental approaches involving volatiles sampling coupled to gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC–MS) are being explored as faster, more comprehensive, potentially quantitative, and possible more ‘objective’ means of assessing the dangers of off-gassing from museum construction materials. While many of these characteristics are now well documented, the objectivity of the instrumental result is arguable. While the detection of volatiles and semi-volatiles by GC–MS can confidently yield a list of potential pollutants, “chemical intuition” must be used to predict whether many of the emitted compounds can in fact adversely affect artwork. In this study, evolved gas analysis (EGA) coupled to GC–MS is used to predict the suitability of a small sample set of plastics for use in a museum. The potential impact of volatiles observed in the EGA chromatogram was assessed using chemical reactivity principles and the sparse literature data on the material damages caused by a small group of known pollutants. These same plastics were then tested using the British Museum’s 3-in-1 Oddy test.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-018-0213-2
Primary URL Description: Relating volatiles analysis by GC–MS to Oddy test performance for determining the suitability of museum construction materials
Secondary URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0213-2
Secondary URL Description: Relating volatiles analysis by GC–MS to Oddy test performance for determining the suitability of museum construction materials
Access Model: Open access
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Heritage Science
Publisher: Heritage Science

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