A quantitative study of acetic acid emissions from historical cellulose acetate at room conditions.

M Novak, J Grau-Bové, T Rijavec, I Kraševec, I Kralj-Cigić, C De Stefani, C Checkley-Scott, M Strlič

Abstract read

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Article in NPJ heritage science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

Quality Assessment of Box Materials for Long-Term Archival Storage: VOC Emissions Are Not a Significant Concern.ChemPlusChem · 2026
Article

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

M NovakUCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Pl, WC1H 0NN London, UK.

J Grau-BovéUCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Pl, WC1H 0NN London, UK.

T RijavecHeritage Science Laboratory, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 113, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.

I KraševecHeritage Science Laboratory, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 113, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.

I Kralj-CigićHeritage Science Laboratory, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Večna pot 113, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.

C De StefaniLondon Metropolitan Archives, 40 Northampton Rd, EC1R 0HB London, UK.

C Checkley-ScottConservation by Design Ltd., 9 Newmarket Ct, Kingston, MK10 0AG Milton Keynes, UK.

M StrličUCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Pl, WC1H 0NN London, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Historic objects made of cellulose acetate are potential sources of indoor pollution in heritage collections. As these objects degrade, volatile organic compounds, including acetic acid, are produced and emitted. High concentrations of acetic acid can increase the degradation rate of both organic and inorganic objects stored nearby. In this study, micro-invasive sampling and ion chromatography were used to quantify acetic acid emission rates from objects made of cellulose acetate, including 3D objects and photographic negatives. It was observed that some degrading objects emit acetic acid at high rates, even under standard environmental conditions (20 °C and 30% RH) that are prescribed for storage of objects made of cellulose acetate. The emission rate was found to be governed by the internal diffusion for thicker cellulose acetate objects and by the surface evaporation for thinner objects. In the diffusion-controlled mode of emission, the airflow did not accelerate acetic acid emissions. To compare the storage options for cellulose acetate objects, the emission rates of acetic acid were used as the inputs for models predicting the equilibrium acetic acid concentrations in various enclosures (archival box, surface-coated archival box, metal can, and display case). It was observed that surface-coated boxes contained higher concentrations of acetic acid than other enclosures, mainly due to their low air exchange rates and deposition velocities.

Identifiers

PMID40017723

DOI10.1038/s40494-025-01551-y

PMCPMC11867026

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LicenceCC BY

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.