Handling documents after restoration from flood

Peggy W. Norris <peggywnorris<-at->gmail<.>com> writes

>Is there anything about the either freeze-drying or irradiation that
>would increase the risk of allergens?  Are there any other issues
>with freeze-dried, irradiated documents that we should be aware of?

Musty smell indicates a live and active mold infestation.  But if
there are particles of dead mold structures in the items, these are
quite capable of causing allergic symptoms.  The same proteins are
present in the structure fragments.

Dead mold is almost as allergy-provoking as live mold.  The only
difference is that people who are also allergic to some of the
complex "fragrance" chemicals active molds release will not be
affected as strongly.  However, it is the proteins in the molds
themselves that provoke most people.

And depending on the contents of the storm water, there may be other
chemicals present in the artifacts.  For example, the Sandy water
from our area hauled up a load of industrial chemicals from the
water and the sediments from the bottoms of our not-too-clean
waterways plus some ugly bacteria from sewerage overflows and
deposited all this junk in our stuff.

Monona Rossol, M.S., M.F.A., Industrial Hygienist
President:  Arts, Crafts and Theater Safety, Inc.
Safety Officer: Local USA829, IATSE
181 Thompson St. #23
New York, NY 10012
212-777-0062


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 30:11
                   Distributed: Sunday, July 31, 2016
                       Message Id: cdl-30-11-002
                                  ***