Volatile organic compounds from wood and their influences on museum artifact materials I. Differences in wood species and analyses of causal substances of deterioration

Wood is generally used as the interior material in museum storage rooms. Recently, however, the effects of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from wood on artifacts has become a topic of great concern. The VOCs from four species of wood (western red cedar, spruce, kiri, and sugi) and their effects on artifact materials (two types of metal, seven types of pigment) were investigated using a deterioration-accelerating test, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, X-ray diffraction analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results suggested that the influences on artifact materials varied greatly with wood species, and depended on specific components such as hinokitiol or acetic acid rather than the amount of total volatile organic compounds (TVOCs). It is a very serious problem that of the four species of wood, western red cedar (rich in hinokitiol), which has been recommended as an interior material for museum storage rooms, showed the heaviest deterioration on metal samples, and only this type of wood discolored enpaku (white lead) and rokushou (malachite, verdigris). In such storage rooms, museum artifacts should be carefully monitored. When selecting an interior material for a storage room or studying methods of preventing deterioration, it is very important to consider fully the characteristics of wood VOCs, not only the amount of TVOC.Part of this paper was presented at the 24th (Tokyo, June 2002) and 25th (Kyoto, June 2003) Annual Meeting of the Japan Society for the Conservation of Cultural Property