Paper damaged by seawater

As a result of the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011,
Japanese paper and book conservators are struggling with the rescue
and recovery of paper-based objects that have been fully or
partially soaked, or moistened with seawater. In the past two months
since the earthquake and tsunami hit, the rescue response for
photographs, documents, and books by conservators in the affected
areas has been very slow.

Even now when over three months passed, these damaged materials are
covered with mud and slime, also a continuing mold growth has been
reported. However, with ambient temperatures rising, the rescue
operation is considering prompt temporary measures such as rinsing
and drying until full or partial treatment is available in the near
future.

A survey of published conservation literature has not provided any
information regarding the recovery of such objects, including
information related to the long or short-term effects on paper
following exposure to the contents of seawater.

If you have any experience recovering large volumes of paper-based
objects that have been contaminated with seawater, or if you can
suggest any relevant literature on the subject, please share it with
us.

Kaname Shimada
Conservator
Shiryouhozon-kizai Co., Ltd.
201-2-27-16 Honkomagome Bunkyo-ku, 1130021
Tokyo Japan
+81 03 5976 5461
Fax: +81 03 5976 5462


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:3
                   Distributed: Sunday, June 19, 2011
                        Message Id: cdl-25-3-022
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