Just how dangerous is that object? - Identifying and Managing Hazardous Materials In Museum Collections - C2C Webinar - June 23, 2021 - Connecting ...
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Just how dangerous is that object? Identifying and Managing Hazardous Materials In Museum Collections Hayley Monroe - Museum of Vancouver C2C Webinar - June 23, 2021
Summary - Introduction - What makes a material hazardous? - Hazardous materials common in museum and heritage collections - Surveying your collection for hazardous materials - Identification - Management and safe working procedures
Unlike industrial workers who are likely to encounter higher
doses of potentially hazardous materials resulting in acute
exposure, museum workers are more likely to be
exposed to low-level doses of heavy metals [and other
toxins] over an extended period of time, resulting in
chronic health problems.
AIC Health and Safety, 2008
Exhibition prep Object Complying with WorkSafe BC Storage
photography requirements reorganizations
DDT Naphthalene Asbestos Arsenic,
mercury & lead
What makes a material hazardous?
Hazardous materials commonly found in cultural collections:
Pesticides - organic and inorganic Ethnobotanical and other biological toxins
Preservatives (for wet specimens) - Poison darts/arrows, and herbaria
Heavy metals (non-pesticide) - Including: strychnine, aconite, ergot, curare,
- Pigments Abrus precatorius, etc. etc.
- Mercury-felted hats - Mold
- As associated with 19th C dying - Pathogens (from contaminated objects)
- Solid lead and lead solder Chemicals
- Corrosion products of lead and cadmium - Historic industrial or household
- Liquid mercury - CTC-containing grenade-style extinguishers
- Geological specimens Explosive and pressurized objects
Asbestos - Firearms, ammunition, firecrackers, pressurized
- Incorporated in objects and architectural fire extinguishers, etc.
elements Cellulose nitrate & celluloid
- Mineral specimens Deterioration products of some plastics
Pharmaceuticals, patent medicines & controlled Radioactive objects and specimens
substances
6
Evaluating your collection
7
Research!
- What have other museums
identified?
- Historical information (ie. details of
manufacture, or timelines of use for
specific materials such as pesticides
or pigments).
- Toxicological data
8
9
10
Surveying
- Walk your aisles, explore your
records
- Visual and non-analytical positive IDs
- Likely IDs (good candidates for
further testing and/or preemptive
flagging)
11Analytical testing (when possible)
- Non-invasive techniques
Such as X-Ray Fluorescence
(XRF)
- Invasive techniques which require
sampling
(Such as GC-MS - especially for
detecting organic molecules such
as organic pesticides and
ethnobotanical toxins)
12Visual & otherwise straightforward identifications
Visual & otherwise
straightforward identifications Cocaine
Strychnine
(Nux vomica)
Liquid
Cellulose nitrate mercury
Uranium glass Liquid preservatives
(many names)
Solid lead
Radium paint Naphthalene Abrus precatorius “Poison!”XRF Non-invasive elemental analysis
XRF Non-invasive elemental analysis
Lead paint
(& mercury-gas tubes)
Mercury Zinc
Mercury & lead (cinnabar / (possibly zinc
vermilion) lacquer hexafluorosilicate)
Mercury
Arsenic
(As-Cu green Mercury Arsenic, mercury and lead
pigment)
ArsenicGC-MS Minimally invasive analysis of organic molecules
GC-MS
Minimally invasive analysis of organic
molecules
To be tested, suspected:
Adenium boehmianium
Pentachlorophenol
DDT
& Strychnos toxifera
Antiaris toxicaria
Naphthalene (curare)Just how dangerous is that
object?
http://catalogue.wellcomelibrary.org/
record=b1353023Hazard vs. Risk
What’s the difference?
Hazard: a dangerous property
- Chemical hazards such as toxicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive toxicity, etc.
- Physical hazards such as flammability, radioactivity, pressurization, etc.
Risk: a combination of the hazardous property and the
likelihood and degree of exposureManaging the Hazards in Your Collection - Labels and database records (tagging and flagging) - Storage and housing upgrades - Safe working practices and PPE
Labels and database records
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27Safe Working Practices
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Thank you!
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