[Nhcoll-l] Antw: Re: [EXT]Re: [EXTERN] Re: LED lights in collections

Thu Jan 30 04:10:29 EST 2025

Brilliant thread indeed! Thanks Mariana and Joachim, this makes sense!

Cheers,
Dirk

Am 30.01.2025 um 08:59 schrieb Joachim Händel:
Dear all,
Mariana, yes - I think so too. It is known from entomological collections that in some specimens the long-chain fats in the fat bodies of dried insects break down and form short-chain oils that seep out of the body and make the specimen and sometimes the insect-boxes sticky. This is particularly common with large moths.

All the best
Joachim

--
Joachim Haendel

Center of Natural Science Collections
of the Martin Luther University (ZNS)
- Entomological Collection -

Domplatz 4
D-06099 Halle (Saale)
Germany

Phone:  +49 345 - 55 26 447
Email: joachim.haendel at zns.uni-halle.de<mailto:joachim.haendel at zns.uni-halle.de>

>>> Mariana Di Giacomo <maru.digi at gmail.com><mailto:maru.digi at gmail.com> schrieb am 29.01.2025 um 22:01:
Thanks Luci for the response and extra info!

Dirk, I would think it's the fats, not peptides that cause the stickiness, as when polymers like oils and fats degrade, they tend to become sticky and slimy. IR could be a contributor here as well, so the three of them sped up the reactions of decay not just in the colors but in everything.

Thanks everyone for this amazing light convo!
Mariana

Mariana Di Giacomo, PhD
Natural History Conservator, Yale Peabody Museum
Associate Editor, Collection Forum, SPNHC

El mié, 29 ene 2025 a las 12:25, Dirk Neumann (<d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de<mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>>) escribió:
interesting that it turned sticky!
Has anyone ideas? Any secondary reaction/break-up of the residual peptides in the skin?

Am 29.01.2025 um 16:00 schrieb Luci Cipera:

Hello,
Yes, this is a photo from the Canadian Museum of Nature. It is no longer on our website.
These three frogs, as well as other natural history materials (fur, feathers, shells, etc.), were exposed to sunlight thought a window for a period of time. The frogs (fluid specimens) had the most dramatic changes and that is why the photo has been used to demonstrate light damage.

  *   The frog on the left was kept under aluminum foil – no UV or visible light.
  *   The frog in the middle was covered with a UV filter - exposed to visible light.
  *   The frog on the right was exposed to full sunlight – visible light and UV.

The frog kept in the dark retained its colour. The frog exposed to only visible light faded much slower than the one exposed to full sunlight. It retains some colour. While the frog exposed to full sunlight faded faster and lost more colour overall. The other observation is that the frog exposed to UV and visible light showed signs of breaking down of the tissue. The surface of the frog was sticky to touch.
Visible light will cause light damage, but much slower than if also exposed to UV radiation.
Another resource from the Canadian Conservation Institute: The Light Damage calculator.
Light Damage Calculator - Canada.ca<https://app.pch.gc.ca/application/cdl-ldc/description-about.app?lang=en>
This tool really helps demonstrate how any amount of UV significantly accelerates the damage to materials. However, visible light will also cause light damage, but at a much slower rate. That is why it is important to control light levels for exhibitions, but also collections area. Something like making sure lights turned off at night makes a big difference.
Luci
Luci Cipera
Conservator, Collection Services and Information Management
Conservatrice-restauratrice, Service des collections et gestion de l’information
Canadian Museum of Nature / Musée canadien de la nature
613-364-4079
lcipera at nature.ca<mailto:lcipera at nature.ca>
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu><mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Mariana Di Giacomo
Sent: January 29, 2025 7:54 AM
To: Shoobs, Nate <shoobs.1 at osu.edu><mailto:shoobs.1 at osu.edu>
Cc: NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu><mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [EXT]Re: [Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Re: LED lights in collections
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Dear Nate,
It is quite possible that the LEDs are causing the damage because light damage is not only caused by UV but also by visible light (and IR but through other mechanisms).
Here's a good resource from the Canadian Conservation Institute about light as an agent if deterioration: https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/agents-deterioration/light.html
And I'm also including an image I took from the Internet a while back but cannot find again (it has a Canadian Museum of Nature watermark, but I cannot find the original source anymore). It is a great example of both UV (right) and visible light (middle) affecting museum collections. Maybe some of our Canadian colleagues can provide the resource.
Hope it helps,
Mariana
Mariana Di Giacomo, PhD
Natural History Conservator, Yale Peabody Museum
Associate Editor, Collection Forum, SPNHC
On Tue, Jan 28, 2025, 15:16 Shoobs, Nate <shoobs.1 at osu.edu<mailto:shoobs.1 at osu.edu>> wrote:
Question on this subject – our museum uses Phillips MASTER LEDtube InstantFit HF T8 bulbs in old fluorescent light ballasts. The building was converted from ancient 80’s GE fluorescent tubes (that emitted a significant amount of UV light) back in 2018.
I’ve noticed that posters I’ve put on the wall near these new lights have faded significantly in the last 4 years, despite our collections spaces having no other light sources and no windows. It could be that the poster inks are not light fast, but this thread made me wonder if the LED bulbs are doing the damage.
I can’t find a spec sheet that quantifies the amount of UV or IR emitted by these bulbs, but I see that Phillips’ marketing language claims that the bulb “Emits virtually no UV rays or IR”.
Anyone know whether these bulbs actually emit UV that will damage materials over time?
Best,
Nate
--

[The Ohio State University]
Nathaniel F. Shoobs
Curator of Mollusks
College of Arts & Sciences Dept. of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology
Museum of Biological Diversity, 1315 Kinnear Rd, Columbus, OH 43212<https://www.google.com/maps/search/1315+Kinnear+Rd,+Columbus,+OH+43212?entry=gmail&source=g>
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mbd.osu.edu<http://mbd.osu.edu>

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Angela Hornsby <horns076 at umn.edu<mailto:horns076 at umn.edu>>
Date: Thursday, January 23, 2025 at 3:44 PM
To: Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de<mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] Re: LED lights in collections
Thanks for the input and resources, everyone. This is really helpful, especially the CCI bulletin which I had not run across yet! Angela -- Angela Hornsby, Ph. D. (she) Zoological Collections Manager (MMNH / JFBM) Bell Museum University of Minnesota
Thanks for the input and resources, everyone. This is really helpful, especially the CCI bulletin which I had not run across yet!
Angela
--
Angela Hornsby, Ph.D. (she)
Zoological Collections Manager (MMNH / JFBM)
Bell Museum
University of Minnesota
https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/zoological-collections/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/zoological-collections/__;!!KGKeukY!ztpZgmv9y3v5wk9H77YsW9QuWVS0KqD3h4ENFEVkSnnPAhUhF9t6tB44ov33jvEcCfTyMwBUxk94EDQTNQ$>
On Thu, Jan 23, 2025 at 2:31 PM Dirk Neumann <d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de<mailto:d.neumann at leibniz-lib.de>> wrote:
.. depending on the quality of the LED bulbs, they can be a great opportunity to significantly reduce UV-emissions and UV-induced damage, e.g. compared to old neon lights. But not all are.
Also, retrofitting old neon light sockets with modern LED bulbs however may create problems and should be considered with great care, because old and especially historic ballast units may fail and even start burning.
This is also mentioned in the CCI Technical Bulleting Dee just shared (thanks for sharing!)
All the best
Dirk
Am 23.01.2025 um 19:38 schrieb Callomon,Paul:
Changing to LEDs makes sense in many ways. They consume a fraction of the energy used by incandescent or even fluorescent bulbs, and do not get anywhere near as hot. Both factors reduce stress on older light fixtures and thus the danger of sparking. They do not have ballasts, unlike fluorescents, and are a straight swap-out.
The only possible issue is that their color temperature tends to be higher than that of incandescents. Some LED bulbs can be configured to “cool” or “warm” modes with a switch, but most are set at the factory. Cool LEDs can change the visual perception of colors in exhibits and shared spaces, though that can also be good – many dioramas and specimen displays look better with higher color temperature lighting, and up to now that has often been achieved with halogen bulbs that get very hot indeed and eat a lot of power.
One caveat is that the optimistic durability figures many makers give – “lasts seven years!” are just that, optimistic. These bulbs are almost all made in China and to keep the price down, the QC is not all it might be. I’ve had them fail or start flickering (which can’t be fixed) in less than a year in some cases.
Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates
________________________________
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia
callomon at ansp.org<mailto:callomon at ansp.org> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu><mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Angela Hornsby
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2025 1:29 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] LED lights in collections
External.

Hi everyone,
Our campus facilities management would like to change all of our general lighting in non-public collections spaces (dry and wet) to LEDs. I haven't found any sources suggesting major negatives (e.g., https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/mhi/chap4.pdf<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.nps.gov/museum/publications/mhi/chap4.pdf__;!!KGKeukY!ztpZgmv9y3v5wk9H77YsW9QuWVS0KqD3h4ENFEVkSnnPAhUhF9t6tB44ov33jvEcCfTyMwBUxk-bpUVs0Q$>).
Does anyone have experience with the change to LEDs, particularly any unanticipated effects?
Thanks,
Angela
--
Angela Hornsby, Ph.D. (she)
Zoological Collections Manager (MMNH / JFBM)
Bell Museum
University of Minnesota
https://www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/zoological-collections/<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.bellmuseum.umn.edu/zoological-collections/__;!!KGKeukY!ztpZgmv9y3v5wk9H77YsW9QuWVS0KqD3h4ENFEVkSnnPAhUhF9t6tB44ov33jvEcCfTyMwBUxk94EDQTNQ$>

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