[Nhcoll-l] Smoke in the collections

[Dirk Neumann]

Hi Rachel,

what should be considered are volatile pollutants that may have entered 
the collection space with the smoke even though the smoke has 
disappeared. As Hannu's example indicates, gaseous pollutants and smoke 
may cause conservation issues in the long run, so it might be worth 
checking which sort of gasses or smoke particles should be expected, in 
order to develop a monitoring to detect potential damage early.

Checking for examples referring to fire in libraries might be a good 
starting point to collect information, as libraries usually have 
excellent conservation staff and sadly there is more than one library 
that was affected by a fire the one or other way. For some volatile 
pollutants specific treatments may be needed to remove them, "airing 
things out" surely isn't enough here as Tonya already mentioned.

Hope this helps
Dirk


Am 30.07.2020 um 16:50 schrieb Hannu Saarenmaa:
>
> Earlier this year we digitized 200,000 sheets from one medium-size 
> herbarium. Often when I handled samples collected by a certain 
> collector in the 1920-1950s, I had to cough. Tobacco-like smell was 
> still dense.  Surprising but hardly amusing.
>
> Hannu Saarenmaa
>
> On 2020-07-30 2:37, Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) wrote:
>>
>> Having survived the dense smoke of the bushfires in SE Australia this 
>> year, I would say that it will just go away on its own eventually…I 
>> can’t give you a timeline, though, as I think we may have got 
>> habituated to the smell before it actually went away. I would not air 
>> things out, due to pest concerns; we never died, either in the 
>> collections or at home, and the smell eventually dissipated. So sorry 
>> you have to deal with this, though, as I know how awful it is!
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Tonya
>>
>> *From:*Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> *On Behalf Of 
>> *Rachel Delovio
>> *Sent:* Thursday, 30 July 2020 4:46 AM
>> *To:* 'nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu' <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
>> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] Smoke in the collections
>>
>> Good afternoon everyone,
>>
>> Last Thursday afternoon, a brush fire (see attached images) 
>> approached the fence line to our off-site curatorial facility. 
>> Fortunately, there was no damage to the building, but there was a 
>> haze within the storage areas. We have been airing out the facility 
>> since then, which is an IPM concern; however, due to the smell of 
>> smoke, we feel there is no other option. It has been a week of 
>> opening doors and running fans and the smell of smoke is still 
>> lingering. Does anyone have any experience with how long a smoky 
>> smell will persist? Fortunately, the haze was gone the first 24 hours 
>> and I have not found soot.
>>
>> Thank you for your input.
>>
>> Rachel
>>
>> /Rachel Kaleilehua Delovio/
>>
>> /Anthropology Collections Manager/
>>
>> /Nevada State Museum/
>>
>> /600 N. Carson Street/
>>
>> /Carson City, NV 89701/
>>
>> /Phone: 775.687.4810 x229 /
>>
>> /Fax: 775.687.4168 /
>>
>> //
>>
>> //
>>
>> //
>>
>>
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> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
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> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.


-- 


Dirk Neumann

Tel: 089 / 8107-111
Fax: 089 / 8107-300
neumann(a)snsb.de

Postanschrift:

Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Storage
Münchhausenstr. 21
81247 München

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---------

Dirk Neumann

Tel: +49-89-8107-111
Fax: +49-89-8107-300
neumann(a)snsb.de

postal address:

Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Storage
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81247 Munich (Germany)

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