Dust and handling

Conservators spend a great deal of time removing dust, dirt and grime from
books, papers and historic artefacts. It is interesting to speculate how
important this is in comparison to other forms of interventive treatment.
Few would dispute that in most cases clean objects look nicer than dirty
ones. But are dirty objects deteriorating any faster?

Can anyone give me references to any systematic or quantitative studies of
the effect on the chemical and physical properties of library materials and
museum objects of:

    1.  airborne particulates deposited on their surface

    2.  dirt, oils, sweat etc transferred from the ungloved hand?

Jonathan Ashley-Smith
Victoria and Albert Museum
London UK

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 9:30
                Distributed: Friday, September 29, 1995
                        Message Id: cdl-9-30-010
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