engleski

Application of radiation technology for preservation of cultural heritage made of leather

A big part of our cultural heritage (CH) is made from natural materials which are very sensitive to surrounding conditions and thus get easily infected. Disinfection through ionizing radiation has been proven to be very effective, because it is based on electromagnetic radiation from radioactive 60Co, which causes chemical damage of DNA molecules of all biological pollutants, while on the other hand in most cases leaving the materials constituting the object intact. Contrary to all other methods gamma rays are highly penetrating acting on all pests present in the whole volume of a treated object in their whole life cycles ; from spores to grown pests. Among all the advantages of radiation technology it needs to be outlined that it is harmless for humans and damage of the material is minimal, when using optimal conditions. In the process of irradiating a CH object the most important parameter to pay special attention to is the irradiation dose. The used dose depends on the type and degree of contamination, the desired reduction of pests and their radio sensitivity, as well as type of material and its condition. It is necessary to apply the smallest possible dose for deactivation of biological contaminants, which should also be smaller than the dose that would induce any changes in the material or change its appearance. In this work, we investigated the influence of radiation on natural leather which is used for restoring leather book covers using gama rays. With this research, we wanted to investigate the effect ionizing radiation has on natural leather, treated and non-treated. The main objective was to determine can radiation technology be used for preservation of cultural heritage made of leather and in which conditions. Applying radiation to objects made of leather, such as clothing, book covers or furniture is still rare due to insufficient research into the effects of radiation on leather. This work investigates the effect of ionizing radiation on natural leather, unimpregnated and impregnated, in order to determine whether radiation technology can be used for protection and preservation of CH made from leather. Goatskin was used for the investigations with two types of common impregnation agents: Leather preservative and Talas SC600 preservative. The samples were tested by colorimetry and pH measurements, as well as FTIR. In the dose range used on cultural heritage at both investigated dose rates no observable changes were noticed, according to colorimetry, pH or FTIR.

leather ; radiation technology ; gamma irradiation ; colorimetry ; FTIR ; pH

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