[NHCOLL-L:4528] Re: Mold

[Anderson, Gretchen]

I agree with John.  If it is mold it should be inactive at 43%.  I also
question the use of alcohol or acetone.  If the mold is already dead you
do not need it.  If it is alive then there is some evidence that killing
it will stress it and cause it to bite into what ever it is on - causing
staining and pitting.  Now this might not be an issue for you since it
is fossil.  There is not much that acutally kills mold spoors, and mold
spoors will simply reactivate if they find favorable conditions again
(food + a high enough RH%).
 
If you (or who ever is cleaning the fossils) have any propensity for
mold based alergies, I would recommend that you get fitted for at least
a half face respirator and use HEPA filters.  If the tests do come back
postitive for mold and the mold is one of the more toxic varieties then
you should definitiely use HEPA filters.  I always use HEPA filters when
I am working with mold.   
 
Good luck!
gretchen 

________________________________

From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu
[mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of John E Simmons
Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 12:20 PM
To: hfourie at nfi.museum
Cc: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:4526] Re: Mold


This does look like mold, but at an RH of 43%, it is most probably
inactive (unless the substrate it is on is very damp).  If it is
confirmed as mold, then you should try cleaning by simply brushing it
off.  Wear a dust mask and work in an area away from the collections
(preferably under a fume hood, or outside).  If the mold is inactive,
you may not need to use alcohol or acetone or anything else.  I don't
know how effective acetone is for killing mold.

Why are you thinking of coating the specimens with acryloid?  

--John


On Thu, Sep 17, 2009 at 2:04 AM, Dr Heidi Fourie <hfourie at nfi.museum>
wrote:


	We have now decided to firstly remove the plant collection which
might not have mould and then tackle the mould in the room where it is
present.  Our thoughts are to use Acetone as the fossils are covered
with Glyptal, remove the frames and then maybe recover with Acryloid.
	Will this be feasible?  Do we still need to use the ethanol?
	The strangest thing is that the humidity is only 43 % and as low
as 33% with temperatures varying between 19 and 23 degrees C.  Very odd.
	I'll have it confirmed as being mould today.
	Heidi
	 
	Dr H. Fourie
	Curator: Vertebrate Palaeontology
	Transvaal Museum
	Tel: 012 3227632




-- 
John E. Simmons
Museologica
128 E. Burnside Street
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania 16823-2010
simmons.johne at gmail.com
303-681-5708
www.museologica.com
and
Adjunct Curator of Collections
Earth and Mineral Science Museum & Art Gallery
Penn State University
19 Deike Building
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-2709
jes67 at psu.edu

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