Thank you Stephan, yes you’re absolutely right – its incredible that methyl bromide is still advocated for use here… We have only had to use it once in my 20 yrs working at my institution, and hopefully never again.
Unfortunately I don’t have access to my usual folder of research (the joys of working from home), but the MFA sum it up here about methyl bromide interacting with wool, leather, feathers etc - http://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Methyl_bromide - The one time I used methyl bromide was for bamboo and timber works with some feather decoration – we decided the feathers could be sacrificed if they were damaged by the gas (as the artist was happy to replace them), but as it turned out no damage was noted after treatment with methyl bromide. That’s a good suggestion about raising the temperature to speed up the low-oxygen/nitrogen treatment, however our tent system isnt going to be big enough and making enclosures for all of these works (5 objects up to 10m wide) isn’t possible. It’s a tricky thing to balance out the issues of short time frame, potential damage to artwork from the treatment, and few options… So yes, hoping for real experiences of damage, to help make a decision … if we do get a directive to treat. Thank you for your help, Suzi Suzi Shaw Conservator, Frames and Furniture National Gallery of Victoria 180 St Kilda Road Melbourne VIC 3004 T: +61 3 8620 2123 F: +61 3 8620 2555 M: NGV.MELBOURNE Follow us at NGV Melbourne: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. Share your experience via the hashtag #ngv while here, then come behind-the-scenes, keep up to date and interact with us post-visit. Visit the NGV Blog and sign up to NGV e-news. DISCLAIMER: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for [email protected]. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute, copy or alter this email. WARNING: Although the National Gallery of Victoria has taken reasonable precautions to ensure no viruses are present in this email, the organisation cannot accept responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of this email or attachments. From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Stephan Biebl Sent: Monday, 6 July 2020 4:34 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [PestList] AW: Risks to artwork materials from methyl bromide or freezing - options Hi Suzi, you mean, that MB could do damage also to proteins? Where have you read about it (e.g. scientific list)? Unger und Reichmuth (1992) found some changes of pigments after fumigation with high moisture. Some influences could found with metal (silver, lead) or sulphurous materials, like leather. On the other side, this gas was used over many years in european churches against furniture beetles without visual damages on different materials. I am always wondering, that MB is not banned completely in the world. Since early 2000s it was phased out in Europe and many other countries till 2017 (USA). Only Australia, NZ keep on using it for quarantine. But sulfuryfluoride gas as replacement could make damages also on metal or pigments, if its not cleaned with filters. Freezing will be the pesticide-free alternative, if you look at the right conditions. Or low oxygen treatment with higher temperature (up 25 C) to shorten the treatment time. Maybe Alex Roach from Australia could help you? Best, Stephan Germany Von: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Im Auftrag von Suzi Shaw Gesendet: Montag, 6. Juli 2020 05:51 An: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Betreff: [PestList] Risks to artwork materials from methyl bromide or freezing - options Hi all, I hope you’re all faring as best as can be during this challenging time. We have some large sculptural furniture (varying from 2-10 metres) items being shipped from South Africa to here in Melbourne, Australia, and we are trying to plan for potential pest issues and possible quarantine directives. They comprise of a metal framework, with stretched and stitched leather, woollen cord made into essentially a deep-pile carpet, recycled plastic components, and various padding materials. Historically our government quarantine department usually advocate methyl bromide for pest treatments, and we will often acquire permission to use our low-oxygen/nitrogen system to treat works instead to limit any damage the gas can do to proteins (as we’ve read about). However in this case we wont have enough room or time prior to display to be able to use this treatment method. Our other option then would be to freeze the works, but this has potential risks too with the stretched leather, and that they may not be able to be prepared for freezing as we normally would (wrapping in plastic with buffering material, packing out airspaces etc). The institution we normally use for freezing large objects may not have space available, so we’d also need to consider off-site commercial freezing. To my knowledge we don’t have any heat treating facilities here and have no experience using them. Would anyone have any suggestions of alternatives or experience of damage they’ve seen from methyl bromide to artworks, or freezing of stretched leathers? I’m trying to work out what treatment method may present the least risk of damage, with ideally an approx two week turnaround, if we are obliged to treat the works under a quarantine directive. With thanks for any advice you can offer, Suzi Suzi Shaw Conservator, Frames and Furniture National Gallery of Victoria 180 St Kilda Road Melbourne VIC 3004 T: +61 3 8620 2123 F: +61 3 8620 2555 NGV.MELBOURNE<https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/ls_mCzvO14cPNQJT2-gjg?domain=ngv.melbourne> We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Melbourne. 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