(reprinted from DECOR MAGAZINE, August 2003)

The Getty Conservation Institute, (GCI) one of the world’s premier conservation research facilities, works internationally to advance the field of conservation and enhance the preservation of visual arts. Preventive conservation approaches have been an important part of the institute’s overall research effort to expand conservation practices beyond treatment. The GCI has conducted extensive research on ways to protect objects in display cases or other microenvironments from attack by indoor and outdoor gaseous air pollutants. As part of this research, GCI scientists have studied the capacity of various absorbents to intercept pollutants, thereby reducing the pollutants’ damaging effects.

During a recent visit to the Getty Conservation Institute, we met with James Druzik, senior scientist, to discuss his work at the institute and how framers can benefit from its research.

DECOR: How long have you been at the Getty Conservation Institute?

Druzik: “I joined the Getty Conservation Institute in 1985, shortly after its founding, so I have been with the institute since the beginning. Having majored in chemistry, I gravitated to paper conservation as there are 10 times more paper artifacts than any other material in the world. Paper artifacts also offer the most scientifically specific area of conservation.”

D: Why are pollutants of interest?

Druzik: “The area of preventive conservation and how to mitigate or prevent air pollution damage has been of particular interest to me for over 20 years. Scientists at the Getty and other institutions have done extensive study on the causes of deterioration to works of art on paper and other materials. We were seeing damage from pollutants occur even in a controlled museum environment.

“Here in the Los Angeles area, outdoor air pollution is an important concern, but we have also discovered that indoor pollutants—generated by furnishings, paints, wood—are an even bigger problem. While outdoor pollution is monitored and regulated, most indoor pollution is not. Indoor pollutants are present in a much higher concentration than those found outdoors, and can be significantly more harmful to artifacts than typical open-air pollution.”

D: What types of pollutants are dangerous to art/artifacts?

Druzik: “Outdoors, pollutants of concern are nitrogen dioxide from automotive exhaust, sulfur dioxide from fossil fuels, acid rain. Indoors, pollutants are generated by furnishings, heating systems, appliances. You will also find residual ‘outdoor’ air pollution inside buildings.

“One of the most dangerous pollutants to paper is acetic acid, which comes from wood, particularly oak; from some papers themselves; and from some manmade materials like acetates. As the effects of acetic acid build up in a paper artifact, it accelerates degradation. And it’s insidious—unlike fading or discoloration, paper deterioration from acetic acid exposure is usually not visible until it is too late.”

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