Feedback sought for article on removing odor from books

Niccolo Caldararo <caldararo<-a t->aol< . >com> writes:

>One sure way to get rid of the "musty" odor is to place CHC
>interleaving tissue in the books.  Only a few sheets are necessary.
>The CHC chemical is a deacidification agent and is said to smell
>like very sweaty old socks (personally I always felt they smelled
>fine, but then maybe it's me).  Langwell developed CHC for acidic
>books, but some librarians tell me that books with CHC interleaving
>(especially rare books) usually are effective in dissuading casual
>browsers from even holding a book for more than 10 seconds let alone
>opening and potentially damaging the spine.

This is speculation.  It seems like the author's solution is to
treat "musty" odor by interjecting a potentially far more offensive
one. The reputation of CHC was damaged in the 1970's by user
sensitivity to it.  Perhaps this is why it is "effective in
dissuading casual browsers".  "Musty" odor may be biological or
caused by of-gassing in diffusion restricted book structures.  While
the literature does support the premise that neutralizing acidity
slows down more forms of degradation than acid-catalyzed hydrolysis
alone (and this may reduce some odors), it is speculative that in
any one case a "musty" odor will be corrected this way.
Cyclohexylamine coming off the decomposition of CHC is also a strong
base.  If anyone is concerned by reaction between cellulose and a
strongly alkaline material this should be considered.  This should
be seriously considered especially for rare books.  Also
cyclohexylamine can combine to form chromophores on substrates which
are strongly colored. I have seen it do this on coated papers.  I
never went into it further but my speculation is that this was a
binder interaction.

This asks a larger question.  Will deacidifying acidic papers reduce
their susceptibility to mold under high humidity with or without
enhanced air ventilation?  This is what we intend to investigate
further in the next few years.

James Druzik
Senior Scientist
The Getty Conservation Institute

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:31
                Distributed: Wednesday, October 1, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-31-002
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