Archaeological metal

I would be interested to here from Conservators who have used
chemical, electrochemical, or electrolytic stripping techniques on
archaeological metalwork.

Would anyone like to confess to using treatments that were once
'fashionable', but (with hindsight) are now considered detrimental
to the object? What was the treatment and what was the result? Do
you have a disaster, or, a success story? Do you still use any of
these techniques (albeit, with caution) in specific instances?

In addition, does anyone have an opinion regarding the health and
safety issue of BTA residue on archaeological collections? Does your
museum have a policy about handling such material? Or, have you
conducted a risk assessment of the potential chemical residues on
archaeological collections from earlier conservation treatments?

I would very much appreciate any comments or case studies. If you do
not wish such information generally available you can e-mail me
personally. All information will be treated in confidence.

Diane Charlton
Research Assistant
University of Bradford

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 12:91
                  Distributed: Wednesday, May 26, 1999
                       Message Id: cdl-12-91-006
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