Ozone and odor removal

Many thanks to those who responded to my query about ozone as a
de-odorizer.  This is, as several have mentioned, a topic in need
for research.  I would guess that at least the first round of such
an investigation would not be overly onerous.  (An array of items
grilled over a back-yard barbecue would undoubtedly provide more
data than we have now!)  The comparison of ozone and "hydroxyl" is
worth looking into.

The Getty book on ozone indicates that the only materials sensitive
to ozone are the kinds of organic pigments that have already been
shown to be extremely light-sensitive.  (The degree to which a
medium like oil or acrylic would provide protection is a separate
question, which perhaps can be predicted based on existing data.)  I
suspect that the blanket dismissal of ozone that I was taught is
partly due to a certain over-protectiveness on the part of
conservators--a reluctance to use "freezing" for pest control of
certain organic materials is a similar phenomenon: guilty 'til
proved innocent.  This tendency has likely saved us a lot of trouble
in the past but can obviously lead to underuse of some provably
efficacious methods.

In any case, some respondents mentioned dry ice and activated
charcoal as alternative methods that worked well.  The use of dry
ice to clean soot from books (presented, I believe, at the 2009 AIC
meeting) brings up another question--the distinction between
removing smells and removing soot.

I recommend this topic for study for another reason.  As public
awareness of conservation has spread, the likelihood that a
conservator is called in to deal with the consequences of fire in
homes as well as museums has increased.  This is potentially a huge
source of work as well as a huge opportunity to save collections and
help members of the public at an extremely distressing point in
their lives.  I have become aware of many sad cases where things
were thrown out (wet books, for example) because people were not
aware that they could be saved.

Barbara Appelbaum
Appelbaum and Himmelstein
444 Central Park West
New York, NY  10025
Conservation of Works of Art
212-666-4630


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 24:4
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