Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)
Pages - 136
and the restorer workshop) endangering the persons working or reading there. In 1990 the chemist researchers of the Congress Library in Washington carried out examination to measure how many times did the disinfected library material have to be aired through in order to loose all the bound ethylene oxide gas (eto), or that the value measured in the air of the cabin would come close to the limit allowed by the American Health authorities, which is 1 ppm. The results of examinations on samples taken from the cabin are shown in table 1. Table 1. Eto concentrate (ppm)* after airing through once Number of times aired through Eto concentrate (ppm) after all cases of airing through were done Empty cabin (control) 21 3 0.44 Leather 13 2 0.61 Wood-pulp paper (wood-free) 1000 8 1.90 PVC (so call vinyl) music records 180 9 2.80 Newspaper (containing wood) 980 13 1.90 Pine 920 13 16.00 Motion picture (acetate or polyester based with gelatin) >1000 25 38.00 * [1 ppm eto - 1.8 mg/m3] 5. One volume out of the many hundred These results showed that the ethylene oxide emission of library materials disinfected with ethylene oxide is a truly existing factor. Attention was called that library materials disinfected with ethylene oxide should be taken to a closed, but well ventilated room, where the ethylene oxide concentrate of the air could be measured regularly and that materials should only be taken to storage when the ethylene oxide concentrate of the air has been under the limit allowed by health authorities for a steady period. In Hungary this value is 1 mg/m3 (approx. 0.6 ppm), which is 60% of the amount allowed in America. LABOR HEALTH EXAMINATIONS OFÁNTSZ Upon the request of Péter Schramkó the Labor Health Laboratory of the Capital Institution of ÁNTSZ 136
