Odor in textile collection

Re: Zu-chun Liao's response discussing chemical testing of his
Interior Steel cabinets.  I am conducting this correspondence on the
open DistList rather than privately because this is an important
issue.  Untold millions of dollars have been, and are, being spent
on steel cabinets of all kinds; once they are purchased, there is no
going back.  It is therefore vital that all conservators try to
understand the complications involved in this, and that they have
reliable information to use when attempting to persuade institutions
to do the right thing.  (It may not, however, be clear what the
right thing is!)

One of the questions I have had in the past is that, now that powder
coating has become more common, even for non-museum use, are all
powder-coating technologies equivalent in terms of off-gassing?
Anyone with expertise or experience in this area, please speak up.

I am also willing to take this on, because I already was contacted
by the company in regard to my previous suggestion that the cabinet
paint may be responsible for the smells.  I was assured by the
company, and they strongly requested me to convey this openly, that
the cabinets purchased by Mr. Liao were powder-coated.

To Mr. Liao:  Please send as much detail as your chemist has as to
exactly what he/she found.  Were the samples adhesives holding the
gaskets? - or were they the paint media?  What exactly was found?
With this information, it may be possible to recommend mitigation
methods or to predict whether the off-gassing will diminish with
time.

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:78
                  Distributed: Thursday, March 6, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-78-003
                                  ***