A few days ago there was a suggestion for treating mold on books that
puzzled me, so I sent it to our preservation department experts. Below
is her reply.
Marcia
-------- Original Message --------
Marcia,
No!! Lysol spray contains chemicals that we do not want on the books at
all. We might carefully clean a shelf with it, and then thoroughly wipe
the shelf to make sure that no Lysol residue remained, but we would not
even use Lysol on shelving if books were anywhere nearby and in danger
of getting Lysol on them. We can clean books with a HEPA filtered
vacuum, but because of health risks from exposure to mold, I prefer to
contract for that cleaning. The contractors have the fume hoods or
respirators needed to perform the treatment safely. See the information
pasted below for some additional technical information.
Thanks for asking,
Yvonne
"Lysol" is a trade name loosely applied to a variety of
cleaning compounds, I suspect that it some quaternary
ammonium compound, such as alkyl dimethethylbenzyl ammonium
chloride. These are often used in hospital settings as germicides. They
are
also severe skin and eye irritants, and an experimental poison
by digestion and other routes.
**** Moderator's comments: It has been quite a while
since I last saw it, several years at least, but at least one
Lysol formulation (a scentless spray) used to have as its
active ingredient o-phenyl phenol.
I take a very conservative approach in mold clean-up. The
use of chemicals in mold clean-up is almost always a poor idea
(although widely espoused by commercial firms).
Mold "spores" or conidia are everywhere. Typically the
range of molds inside a structure closely resemble what is found
outside (assuming no internal breeding source. And trying to
disinfect is impossible without establishing clean room
protocols--something beyond library capabilities (and, I believe,
unnecessary).
The root cause of mold is moisture--either from building envelope or
equipment leaks, or from inappropriate environmental
controls. It is this root cause which must be dealt with--not that we
create a "sterile" environment.
Using chemicals on mold has a variety of problems. Many
chemicals have damaging effects on the collections. Many use water
carriers, thereby increasing the relative humidity, absolute
humidity, and water activity of the space and/or collections. Many are
toxic. Many kill vegetative mold, but do not affect the conidia.
Moreover, think about it. Mold is a respirable allergen and may pose
significant health consequences. Even if the toxic chemical does "kill"
the mold conidia, it will still be easily airborne, it will still be
easily respirable, and now it will also be toxic. Is that really
what we want introduced into the lungs of our staff and patrons?
Mold on collections can be dealt with--effectively,
efficiently, and safely--by HEPA vacuuming. Best,
Michael Trinkley, Ph.D.
Director
Chicora Foundation, Inc.
PO Box 8664
Columbia, SC 29202-8664
803-787-6910
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byform/mailing-lists/cdl/1998/1356.html
Marcia Goldberg wrote:
>
> How true is this? Will it damage books?
> Marcia
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: RE: [ha-Safran]: Mildew and Mold
>
> For minor mold problems I have used Lysol spray.
--
*******************************************************************
Yvonne Carignan Voice: 301 405-9343
Preservation Production Group Leader FAX: 301 314-9971
McKeldin Library Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
--
Marcia Goldberg
Hebrew/Yiddish Cataloger
2200 McKeldin Library
University of Maryland Libraries
College Park, Maryland 20742
Voice: (301) 405-9330
Fax: (301) 314-9971
**NOTE NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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