Mold on bone

Gina Overshiner asks for advice on removing mould on bone.

Personally, I would be very surprised if mould were a problem if the
RH is only 52%. If the RH were over 80% then it might be. However,
you obviously have a problem of some kind. I wonder whether the
mould is not growing on the bones themselves but on soil remaining
on the surface. What kind of soil/ what part of the country were
the bones found in?

In the first instance, I would avoid using a fungicide. Try
brusjhing the surface (use face mask and extraction), and/or
swabbing individual spots with alcohol Only if that fails would I
try swabbing with chlorine bleach (don't immerse the bones), then
allow to air-dry. If you soak the bones and then dry them with
silica gel they will very probably split.

Storage in paper bags and cardboard boxes is fine, but one of the
best ways to prevent mould growth is to ensure that there is good
air circulation, so storage on trays covered with acid-free tissue
could be preferable. If you do store things with silica gel you
must ensure that the bags or containers are impermeable, otherwise
the gel just soaks up water vapour from the air. Hope this is
useful,

Barry Knight
English Heritage
London

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 10:89
                 Distributed: Thursday, April 17, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-10-89-007
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