Coatings for storage cases

In the process of purchasing flat files for a store room for
architectural drawings, blueprints, renderings, etc., we ran into a
snafu:  the cabinets were not powder-coated as promised.  The
off-gassing was obvious just from a sniff. The vendor and manufacturer
passed the buck and in the end we are stuck with them.

I wonder how much of a problem the off-gassing is likely to be for these
types of materials?  Is there published research demonstrating the
effect of VOCs on paper based materials?  What I'm getting at is:  is
there something we can use these things for in relatively good
conscience? I don't want to unnecessarily overstate the case to our
curators and yet they must be informed of the hazards.

William A. Real, Chief Conservator
The Carnegie Museum of Art
4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh PA 15213
412-622-3267
Fax: 412-622-1979
Alt fax: 412-622-3112

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 8:48
                 Distributed: Friday, December 23, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-8-48-006
                                  ***