Skunk odor

Pete Sixbey <psixbey<-a t->max< . >state< . >ia< . >us> writes

>I received a request from a museum for help to remove odor from a
>skunk that had died among an archival collection consisting of
>mainly newspapers.

I have used zeolites to remove rancid oil odor from prepared sting
ray jaws.  I tried solvents first, without success.  I then placed
the jaws in a vacuum chamber with a tray of zeolites, and after six
weeks, enough of the odor causing molecules were removed to allow
the jaws to be handled.  Zeolites are a class of clay minerals with
an immense amount of surface area and a net negative charge.  They
adsorb organic odors and release them when exposed to air and
sunlight for about six hours, which allows them to be reused.
Zeolites are sold in pet stores for the removal of chloramine from
water. There was also a company called "Non Scents" that was
distributing the mineral packaged in various ways.  The last number
that I had for a distributor in South Carolina was 803-796-4564.

I would suggest setting up an trial chamber in which a small amount
of the affected papers can be placed in with zeolites.  The zeolite
should be spread out in a tray below the papers.  It would be best
to spread the papers out as much as possible, if they are not too
brittle to handle.  It is a passive method, so it might take several
months to be effective, depending on the amount of odor that was
adsorbed by the papers.

Creating boxes for the papers made out of Conservation Resources
Microchamber board might at least contain the odor from being
distributed by the HVAC system where it can be adsorbed by other
collections and annoy staff and researchers.  One variety of the
Microchamber product contains zeolites and charcoal.  Research that
I conducted showed that the board is effective in preventing silver
tarnish by sulphur on silver coupons.

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:22
                 Distributed: Friday, September 5, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-22-005
                                  ***