Rapid detection of chemicals emitted from museum display cases

Summary

This Application Note discusses assessment of volatile organic compounds emitted from the materials used in the manufacture of museum display cases, which can have a detrimental impact upon the condition of the artefacts within them. We describe how sampling devices such as Markes’ Micro-Chamber/ Thermal Extractor, used in conjunction with analysis by thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (TD–GC–MS) can allow rapid and convenient sampling of such chemicals from the wide range of construction materials used in these cases, and how new test schemes are being used by industry to certify these materials.

Introduction

Museum artefacts need to be protected against a range of environmental influences, including cigarette smoke, exhaust gases, spores, pollen, dust, smoke particles, excess moisture, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from skin and breath. To achieve this, airtight display cases are widely used, with very low air exchange rates. However, these low air exchange rates are only beneficial if the materials used to construct the display case are themselves low-emitting. If not, concentrations of undesirable VOCs can build up, resulting in damage to the artefact. The situation is made particularly complicated by the fact that some artefacts can themselves emit undesirable chemicals.