Asbestos

Carolyn Sirett <carolyn.sirett [at] pc__gc__ca> writes

>I am a student from the Collections Conservation and Management
>Program at Fleming College and currently completing an internship at
>Parks Canada, Western and Northern Services Centre. I am completing
>a research project on the removal of asbestos in artifacts ...
>...
>    What was the method used to control the asbestos? (i.e. was a
>    sealant applied over the fibres or was it completely removed
>    from the artifact)
>...
>    What kinds of artifacts were encountered that contained
>    asbestos?

We had a leak at our museum about 6 months ago. The water leaked
down into an old boiler room under the museum that had been used to
store an overflow of stone and plaster artefacts at some time in the
distant past, when people would still think of storing artefacts
that way.  The boiler was old enough that it and all the pipes
around were covered with degrading, crumbling asbestos (the white,
blue, and brown variety, so pretty much every possible form of
asbestos contamination). The artefacts were tested and were indeed
contaminated with asbestos, so we had to decontaminate everything as
well as deal with a leak.

The decontamination process could not be done by ourselves, it had
to be done by certified hazardous waste specialists, but we could
work with the HazMat people to cover the artefact handling side. The
area had to be sealed, and entry had to involve full protective
equipment (coveralls, gloves, boots, respirator, edges sealed with
tape). There was a clean decontamination cubicle at the clean side
of the entry, which opened to a dirty decontamination cubicle at the
dirty side of the entrance, with showers and disposal bags for
changing in and out of gear as we progressed from clean side to
dirty side and back.

The artefacts themselves all had to be vacuumed first, then damp
wiped and bagged before they could be taken out of the room. A
sampling of them were tested after removal to see if the asbestos
contamination had been reduced to safe enough levels (they were
safe). If they hadn't been safe, they would have been cleaned a
second time, tested a second time, and if still contaminated then
the only solution is to seal the particulate contamination in a
lacquer layer. The HazMat people usually use a PVA emulsion if they
have to seal things, but it doesn't have to be that particular
lacquer, it just has to seal in the particulates. B72 would be
acceptable, but the coating would have to be relatively thick, and
would leave things shiny. You might choose a different lacquer if
you wanted a different sheen.

Point of note, anything that came in contact with the asbestos and
could not be decontaminated had to be disposed of as hazardous
waste, including our vacuum cleaner.

Also, the hazardous waste regulations may be different in your
country, so you would have to check out what the relevant
regulations are.

Valerie Tomlinson
Conservator
Auckland Museum
Tamaki Paenga Hira
The Domain, Private Bag 92018, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
+64 9 306 7068


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:21
                 Distributed: Monday, October 24, 2011
                       Message Id: cdl-25-21-003
                                  ***