PAPERVOC: Hlapne organske snovi v zbirkah kulturne dediščine na papirju - vir informacij ali zdravstveno tveganje? (Slovene)

It is well known that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are formed during paper degradation, in appreciable amounts also at room temperature. In research studies the presence of aldehydes (formaldehyde and acetaldehyde), and a number of volatile organic acids was indicated. Therefore determination of VOCs in the cultural heritage collections is important at several aspects: -VOCs can have negative effect upon the quality of working environment, as for furfural, which is important degradation product, is known that chronic exposure can lead to headache, nausea and swelling of respiratory tract. Therefore on the basis of project results health risk for persons, who work in collection rooms, was evaluated and was find out that VOCs concentrations are below even the most stringent limits. -VOCs can cause a faster decay of paper material, thus in the frame of project studies of VOCs influence on paper durability was performed. At the same time, negative cross contamination effect on nearby items was considered. -VOCs can carry information about the quality of the material. Results show that there is a link between furfural emission and paper acidity. This is important, as acidity is probably the most important parameter in paper durability.

Paper is one of the most important carriers of the cultural heritage, and its preservation is of vital importance to preserve the historical information. Research in the frame of the project is innovative way to get data about material quality of the cultural heritage collections. Volatile organic compounds emitted from the paper are owner of important information about paper quality. As measurements of volatile organic compounds can be performed on a completely non-destructive manner, they are ideal for studies of cultural heritage materials. At the same time also data about working environment were collected in the rooms, where cultural heritage collections are stored. The research on volatile organic compounds in libraries and archives provides important data to collection managers, staff handling the collection on the daily basis, and conservators, who care for collection preservation of the collections. The data were used for evaluation of health risks of employed and visiting persons in the rooms with collections.