Volume 4, Number 5
Nov 1991

Permanent Papers on the Market

Most of the papers listed in Table 1 are those named by the 23 paper companies that returned the Abbey Publications questionnaire on permanent papers by August 15, 1991. The list is probably not comprehensive. Ten of the companies that did not reply are Cross Pointe, Eastern, Finch Pruyn, Parsons, Patriot, Potsdam, Riverside, Simpson Pasadena, Warren, and George Whiting. These companies make all or most of their paper in the alkaline range, and probably some their papers meet standards, so they should not be ruled out just because they are not on the list. Other companies (like Howard, which makes Permalife) make both acid paper and acid-free permanent paper.

We have made an effort to clarify any ambiguous questionnaire responses by making follow-up calls to the companies, with limited success. We did not, however, insist on including only papers that corresponded exactly to the type covered by a standard, because this would have meant omission of many papers that are indeed long-lived. (Standards exist for only a limited range of papers, so far.)

For more information on just what kind of printing ("ptg") or office ("ofc") papers these are, see Walden's Paper Catalog or one of the directories published by Grade Finders, Inc. Most printers and distributors have copies of these directories; ask them to let you use their copy.

Simplified summaries of the ANSI and ASTM standards are given in Tables 2 and 3. These, rather than the complete text of the standards, are probably what respondents used to fill in the questionnaires, so this list should not be taken too literally. The tear specifications, in particular, must have gotten short shrift, because they are oversimplified here. However, we had to start somewhere. Each "edition" of this list is intended to improve on the previous edition.

Each ASTM standard is really six standards, because there are three levels of permanence, and each of them has two levels of durability. To simplify the picture, respondents were asked to specify only whether their papers met the highest level of permanence and the lowest level of durability for a given ASTM standard. One of the respondents signified that four of their papers met the second level of permanence, by adding a II after the standard number. This means that these papers are expected to last over 100 years (Type II, High Permanence), rather than several hundred years (Type 1, Maximum Permanence).

The row of specs for tear resistance in Table 2 is rather confusing. The different standards use three different measures for resistance to tearing: g (gram, really a measure of weight that often does double duty as a measure of force); gf (gram force, which is the same as the gram under standard gravity conditions on earth); and N (newton, a unit of force which has come into wider use recently; one mN or millinewton=9.81 gf). In future standards, we can expect to see this confusion cleared up. We will also see more frequent use of measures in the form of indexes, which will take into account the thickness of the paper and thus allow the use of one value regardless of weight or thickness.

Complete standards are available from ASTM, 1916 Race St., Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215/299-5400) and (for ANSI Z39.48) from Transaction Publishers, Dept. NISO Standards, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903 (201/932-2280). Both of these organizations are expected to issue revisions of their paper permanence standards within the coming year.

Over 50 papers in this list are recycled, by the broadest definition. Of these 38 appear to contain fiber recycled from outside the mill, that is, to contain more than mill broke. "% PC" means "percent postconsumer waste."

Table 1. Permanent Papers, Standards Met, and Main Use

Notes

1. Champion International. The four deep shade Carnival Cover grades will remain acid sized until late in 1991.

2. Consolidated & Potlatch both make alkaline coated papers, for which there is no permanence standard at present.

3. Crane. A note on the 1990 survey says they have the capability to manufacture all bonds, ledgers, indexes and Save-A-Source recycled paper to meet the ASTM, ANSI, or other specifications as requested by customers.

4. Mohawk. Except midnight blue, navy blue, autumn red, berry, charcoal, forest green, cordovan, plum and ash gray.

5. All papers listed for Mohawk meet the specs of both ASTM D-3290 (bond and ledger papers) and ASTM D-3458 (copy papers). Simpson papers identified as meeting ASTM standards also meet these two standards.

6. Union Camp replied (to the first questionnaire, in 1990), "At the present time all of our papers are manufactured to a level less than 7.0. Several trials have been conducted on alkaline sized paper and Union Camp's Fine Paper Division is presently making plans for a conversion to alkaline sizing in 1991."

Table 2. ASTM Standards for Permanent Records Papers: Specifications for Maximum Permanence (Type I), Ordinary Use

Table 3. ANSI Standard (Z39.48-1984), Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials

pH - 7.5 min.
Alkaline reserve - 2% calcium carbonate, min.
Fiber (paper stock) - No groundwood or unbleached pulp Fold endurance - 30 double folds, average both directions
Tear resistance - 24-50 g for 30-60 lb. paper, MD, min.