ANOXIA, Treatment by Oxygen Deprivation, Optimizing Treatment Time of Museum Objects

TL;DR

This study evaluates the effectiveness and optimal duration of anoxia treatment for museum objects, showing that shorter exposure times are feasible with temperature control, thus improving conservation practices.

Contribution

It provides empirical data on optimizing anoxia treatment duration for museum objects, highlighting the influence of temperature and material properties.

Findings

Optimal treatment time can be reduced to 10-15 days at 25°C.

Oxygen deprivation occurs within 1-2 days for most objects.

Humidity effects on treatment duration are inconclusive.

Abstract

ANOXIA, treatment by oxygen deprivation is largely used for decontamination and disinfestation of cellulose and protein-based organic materials. More specifically this method is applied to more than one hundred thousand of objects destinated for a new museum in Paris, "Musee du Quai Branly". We describe the anoxia installation in this museum and report the result of a study regarding the efficiency of this method and the optimum treatment time, crucial for treating a large collection. We show that the standard 21 days of exposure is not always the optimal choice. Temperature plays a crucial role for hastening the death of insects found within objects. At a temperature of 25C, it is entirely possible to reduce exposure times to 10 or 15 days for the insect species commonly found in museums. The oxygen drop times is between 1 and 2 days for most objects, depending on type and porosity of materials. This corresponds to a treatment time between 15 and 16 days. The effect of humidity is less clear. It can increase the necessary treatment time both for larvae and for adult insects.