Testimonial: Margaret Burnham, Art Conservator,

Birmingham Museum of Art

Beautiful art and hazardous chemicals: the life and times of

an art conservator

The people who protect art need protection, too.

They use a variety of solvents, epoxies and coatings to repair and preserve works of art.

Margaret Burnham oversees the Conservation Lab at the Birmingham Museum of Art

Many of the chemicals conservators use produce hazardous fumes that should not be inhaled.

formaldehyde methylene chloride

cellulose nitratexylene toluene

methylene chloride methyl ethyl ketone (MEK)

Recently, Ms. Burnham sprayed a coating onto an art object placed inside our 40-inch wide Model SS-340-DCH Ductless Fume Hood in the Conservation Lab.

Contents of the coating included toluene, a toxic ingredient in solvents and paints.

When the spraying was complete, she smelled nothing, no fumes at all.

This experience may have played a role in Ms. Burnham’s affection for the hood. She wrote, “Love the unit!!”

Conservation Lab

Conservation Lab

Caring for beautiful art involves dangerous chemicals

Burnham says, “We often use a methylenechloride paint stripper to remove old restoration media. The SAS unit works very well for this, keeping the fumes in check. I also use it for painting and filling as well.”

OSHA considers methylene chloride to be a potential occupational carcinogen.

Tests of our activated charcoal filters to contain methylene chloride fumes indicate they more than meet OSHA time-weighted average exposure standards when used as recommended.

The museum’s hood is equipped with three types of filters: HEPA, activated carbon and a spray paint pre-filter. Together they create a powerful tool for keeping hazardous and unpleasant fumes out of the workspace.

The museum’s hood is equipped with three types of filters: HEPA, activated carbon and a spray paint pre-filter. Together they create a powerful tool for keeping hazardous and unpleasant fumes out of the workspace.

Vase, c.1935, designed by Erling B. “Eric” Olsen, for Wedgwood, Birmingham Museum of Art

Vase, c.1935, designed by Erling B. “Eric” Olsen, for Wedgwood, Birmingham Museum of Art

Soon, museum conservators will apply protective lacquer to pieces in the silver collection. [They apply a lacquer rather than polish silver objects because fine details such as engraving can be abraded away through polishing.]

Coating the silver with cellulose nitrate lacquer will keep the surface pristine and shield it from airborne pollutants for many years.

Once again, without effective ventilation, the conservators could be exposed to a range of hazardous chemicals as they carry out this

important task.OSHA cites these chemicals as possible ingredients in cellulose nitrate lacquer: toluene, xylenes, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK), methanol and formaldehyde.

These chemicals can have both short-term and long-term negative side effects on the human body.

We are happy to know that the museum’s silver preservation activities will be carried out within the confines of our Ductless Fume Hood

We are happy to know that the museum’s silver preservation activities will be carried out within the confines of our Ductless Fume Hood

From the silver collectionPhoto: Birmingham Museum of Art

From the silver collectionPhoto: Birmingham Museum of Art

The museum’s Conservation Lab is located far from an exterior wall.

Remodeling an interior space to provide dedicated ductwork for venting fumes to the outdoors can be an expensive proposition, one that many organizations are reluctant to undergo.

Because the conservators’ unit is a ductless fume hood, it does not require dedicated ducting.

The hood can be located exactly where it’s needed in the workshop.

Respiratory protection, expensive ductwork not required

Give us a callFor information on chemical fume extraction options for your

processes, give us a call at 1.800.799.4609 or email us at sales@sentryair.com,

We love art –and the professionals who preserve it

for future generations

Sentry Air is happy to play a role in conserving art of all genresand especially pleased to help protect

the professional conservators who do this fine work, which will promote conversation about

and appreciation of art long into the future.

Resources

Meet Margaret Burnham, the Birmingham Museum of Art’s new conservatorhttp://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/06/meet_margaret_burnham_the_birm.html

Birmingham Museum of Arthttp://www.artsbma.org/

Industrial Hygiene Report, Control of Toluene Vapors in a Lab Settinghttp://www.sentryair.com/testing/TolueneReport.pdf

Toulenehttp://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/text_version/chemicals.php?id=30

OSHA re methylene chloridehttps://www.osha.gov/SLTC/methylenechloride/

Industrial Hygiene Report, Control of Organic Solvent Vapors: Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK)http://www.sentryair.com/testing/MEK%20Website%20Data.pdf

Industrial Hygiene Report, Control of Formaldehyde In the Workplacehttp://www.sentryair.com/testing/Formaldehyde.pdf

Industrial Hygiene Report, Control of Methylene Chloride In the Workplacehttp://www.sentryair.com/testing/Methylene_Chloride_Report.pdf

OSHA re cellulose nitratehttps://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/woodworking/finishchems_hazards.html