Testing air quality

In Conservation DistList Instance: 10:36 (October 12, 1996),
I wrote

>I received a query today from Michael Henry, a mechanical engineer
>specializing in historic preservation, who is not on-line.  Michael
>asked me if I knew of any inexpensive test "strips" or other
>materials which can be installed either in a supply duct or at the
>supply grill to test for contaminants from central steam
>humidification systems.

Paul Storch, Objects Conservator at the John and Martha Daniels
Objects Conservation Laboratory at the Minnesota Historical Society
responded to me off-line because they do not yet have Internet
access.  I spoke with him earlier today to receive permission for
posting part of his letter to me on-line because I thought it might
be of interest to others.  He agreed.  I have attached the quote
from his letter to me to this e-mail posting.  I hope that it will
be of use to others out there.

    ..."We are currently using a new product from Purafil Corp.
    called "Puralife Filter Strips".  They are synthetic fiber
    strips that are impregnated with potassium permanganate (the
    same media as in the Purafil filter media).  They have an
    adhesive strip on one end so you can suspend them in the air
    stream.  They come with a color chart so after a set interval
    you put the indicator or a part of it into a beaker of distilled
    or deionized water (100 ml) and compare the color with the color
    chart.  We are going to use a Beckman Visible Spectrum,
    Spectrometer that is zeroed to a new strip and measured at two
    wavelength settings.  We'll take readings over four months and
    plot the data to get an idea of the rate that our filter media
    is being used up.  I think that this product might be useful for
    Mr. Henry's situation, as long as whatever is coming out of the
    stream will oxidize K MnO4. He might also want to try upper
    range Ph strips that are soaked in glycerin,m since most of the
    anti-corrosion chemicals that are put in steam boilers are based
    on sodium hydroxide and other alkaline chemicals...

    The sources for the Puralife strips are as follows:

        Mr. Christopher O. Muller
        Manager of Gas Technology
        Purafil
        2654 Weaver Way
        Doraville, GA  30340
        770-662-8545 or
        1 800-222-6367
        Fax: 770-263-0520
        Chris_Muller [at] Purafil__com

    in  Minneapolis:

       Mr. Ronald C. Klick
       The Gorgen Company
       2301 2nd St. North
       Minneapolis, MN 55411
       612-588-0823
       Fax: 612-588-6459

Wendy Claire Jessup
Wendy Jessup and Associates, Inc.
210 Little Falls Street, Suite 203
Falls Church, Virginia  22046
703-532-0788
Fax: 703-532-1661

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:45
                Distributed: Thursday, November 7, 1996
                       Message Id: cdl-10-45-002
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