engleski

Biodecontamination by gamma irradiation of cultural heritage objects containing nacre

Nacre or mother-of-pearl is a tough biomineral produced by numerous kinds of mollusks. Like pearls it consists of about 95% of highly oriented aragonite crystals embedded in anorganic matrix composed of proteins and chitin that forms a lamellar structure giving it its special optical properties. The colors of nacre vary naturally and may be enhanced by one of the common treatments like bleaching and heating. It can be found in a variety of colors and practically no two samples of nacre look the same. It is commonly used for decoration of various CH objects, particularly those made of wood that are often radiation treated. Removing the ornaments is rarely feasible so the question arises whether it is acceptable to irradiate nacre-containing CH objects at all and if yes up to which doses. There is a study on changes in pearls irradiated to modify their color but without colorimetric and/or spectroscopic analysis but no research on irradiation effects on nacre color was published. Because of that this study focuses on how nacre's color is affected by irradiation.

gamma radiation ; cultural heritage ; nacre

nije evidentirano