Library and archive staff at the Royal Marines Museum have found an old, unidentified object while clearing old storage spaces and are seeking advice on how to deal with this item.
A sealed Perspex box was found, closed along the seams with sealant and adhesives, which contains a book. The book is most likely part of the collection but is unlabelled and undocumented in this store, and is in poor condition. There is extensive visible mould growth within the Perspex box and on the (heavily degraded) leather binding of the book itself. It is likely that the book was sealed in this box more than 10-15 years ago and before the museum became part of the NMRN group, making it very difficult to identify the object without taking it out for inspection. It is not known why the box was sealed in this manner but it seems possible that it was trying to contain the book rather than protect it. In order to open the box and avoid the mould, staff are proposing normal PPE and a fume hood, but are looking for advice from anyone who has had a similar issue with a possible sealed hazard. Does anyone have advice on opening a sealed box containing potential unknown hazard or of any types of pesticides or other hazardous treatments that may have been applied to leather-bound volumes in the past? Are there common tests that can be done to sample for contaminants? Any advice greatly appreciated. Diana Davis, Senior Conservator National Museum of the Royal Navy Portsmouth Tel: 02392 891370 ext.2027 ****** Unsubscribe by sending a message to consdistlist-le...@cool.conservation-us.org Searchable archives: http://cool.conservation-us.org/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/
