Volume 09, Number 3
Oct 1996

Paper Aging Research at TNO

John Havermans, who works as a chemist at the TNO Centre for Paper and Board Research in Delft, sent in the following news on September 17.

Some of the research topics he and/or his co-workers are working on or planning to investigate are:

1. Effects of light on deacidified papers. By measuring oxygen consumption, they can follow the light-induced deterioration of deacidified papers. This project will be completed in 1997.
2. Effects of accelerated aging (by autoxidation) on different grades of deacidified and untreated papers. Papers will be exposed to an oxidative agent, ozone. This project is ready to begin in 1997.
3. A literature survey on the effects of (high) alkalinity on old and oven-aged papers after deacidification. This project will be completed within a few months.
4. Development of a universal procedure for archive assessment (i.e., a condition survey procedure). The amount of damage to objects in archives can be quantified by recording the consultability and type and amount of damage, using a new sampling procedure. This can help policy makers in archives create a good budget for conservation work. This project is being carried out on commission for the Dutch State Archives, and will be completed within a year. They would like to involve more archives when the project reaches the testing stage next year. Archives that would like to participate are welcome. There are no start-up costs any more, only costs for doing a spot check and adding their archive to the TNO model.
5. Following the effects of ambient levels of air pollutants on natural aging of different papers stored in two rooms at the Dutch National Archives. One storage room has air purification, and the other has none.