UVC radiation and mold

Andrea Rolich <arolich [at] macc__wisc__edu> writes

>Our library receives quite a number of books from South and
>Southeast Asia.  Virtually all smell of mold and insecticides, which
>cause a variety of reactions in staff who must process the
>materials.
>
>It has been suggested that we might rid the books of mold by
>exposing them to UVC emitters

I have a number of books from Japan which smell moldy.  This could
have happened while awaiting sale or being sent by ship.  The key
here is that they smell--not that they are moldy.  So you could do a
search in the CoOL archives for previous discussions on reducing
odors.  However, books that smell of insecticides might be a
different problem: is it an insecticide that completely vaporizes,
or will there be a residue?

Cathy Atwood
Local Records Program, Missouri Secretary of State

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:73
                 Distributed: Friday, February 27, 1998
                       Message Id: cdl-11-73-006
                                  ***