Anoxia Treatment – a Low Tech Method to Avoid Insect Infestation on Collection Material

ABSTRACT

Integrated pest management is an integral element of preventive conservation in museum collections, archives and libraries. Anoxia treatments can be a useful part of this. The procedure presented below is one of the simplest variants – using only oxygen absorbers.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG

Die ganzheitliche Betrachtung der Schädlingsproblematik ist ein wesentlicher Bestandteil präventiver Konservierung in Museen, Archiven und Bibliotheken. Anoxia-Behandlungen können eine wichtige Rolle darin einnehmen. Das hier dargestellte Verfahren ist eine der einfachsten Varianten – nur unter Verwendung von Sauerstoffabsorbern.

KEYWORDS:

• Anoxia
• oxygen absorbers
• IPM
• insects

SCHLÜSSELWÖRTER:

• Anoxia
• Sauerstoffabsorber
• IPM
• Insekten

Acknowledgments

Bill Landsberger from the Rathgen Research Laboratory Berlin extensively researched the relation between treatment time and insect mortality rate. Georg Josef Dietz and Maike Schmidt searched the European market for suitable material and carried out several practical tests. Due to their fruitful cooperation, they were able to adapt the work of Maekawa and Elert to the needs of the Kupferstichkabinett Berlin.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Transparent laminated barrier films impermeable to oxygen are also available and enable observation during treatment. However, they are significantly more expensive and enable light to enter the package (Maekawa & Elert, 2003: 19–27). You can find them here: https://llfa.eu/anoxiflex.html.

2 A flat iron with appropriate heat generation can also be used. To lower the cost, sharing the handheld sealer with colleagues is an option, or renting the equipment is also possible (https://llfa.eu/sealing-instruments/rent.html or with Paul Hildebrandt AG.)

3 An alternative to the device would be an oxygen indicator like Ageless Eye®, in which case a partly transparent enclosure is necessary to monitor the oxygen levels. For a detailed description on how to create a window for an oxygen indicator in the treatment bag, see Makaewa & Elert (2003: 86–87). If put in an opaque package without a window, the indicator can still serve as a control reference at the end of the treatment!

4 Caution must be taken if choosing a different brand of oxygen absorber, as they may have different rating systems. The description might instead indicate the oxygen absorbing capacity (OAC) of the packet.

5 Maekawa & Elert (2003: 6-7) write that the oxygen content should be less than 0.3% for at least 14 days to kill insects of various stages of life and species. B. Landsberger points out, however, that it is difficult to make a universal statement here. Since the duration of treatment and the necessary oxygen content also depends on the ambient temperature, and life stage and insect type are not always known, he therefore recommends to aim for an oxygen content of 0.0% over the entire treatment period (Landsberger et al., 2019).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Antje Penz

Antje Penz studied restoration and conservation of works of art on paper, Archives and Library Materials at the State Academy of Art and Design in Stuttgart (Germany). She worked in a private conservation studio in the Netherlands for over 5 years and joined the Conservstion department at the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin in 2016.