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UV-C as an Efficient Means to Combat Biofilm Formation in Cultural Heritage Monument. Biodiversity and Impact on Prehistoric Pigments?

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10th International Symposium on the Conservation of Monuments in the Mediterranean Basin (MONUBASIN 2017)

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Abstract

Caves are considered oligotrophic habitats exhibiting constant temperature and relative humidity throughout the year. While darkness inhibits photosynthetic microorganism growth, introducing artificial lights to promote touristic activity can induce algae and cyanobacteria proliferation. Besides the aesthetic problem, microorganisms are responsible of physical and chemical degradation of limestone wall with possibly a degradation of prehistoric painting of cultural value. In our studies, we identified lampenflora with new-generation sequencing (NGS) in five French show caves and also on a 180, 000 years old contaminated bear bones (Ursus deningeroides). Afterward, we attempted to find an ecological and efficient method to eradicate photosynthetic biofilms. Our previous works showed the good efficiency of UV-C against biofilms. To ensure the safety of UV-C treatment, pigments used for prehistoric parietal painting were strongly irradiated around 4800 kJ m−2. Afterward, we treated all biofilms in La Glacière show cave. Following the treatment, irradiated biofilm color evolution was monitored. Results of sequencing showed that biofilms were mainly composed of bacteria, fungi, cyanobacteria, chlorophyceae, and diatoms. Multicellular mosses were also present in each biofilm. Furthermore, X-ray crystallography, infrared spectroscopy, and colorimetric measurement showed no change in pigment color nor in their chemical structure. Finally, UV-C treatment results showed that biofilms were completely eradicated with no algae proliferation observed after 21 months. Moreover, a complete bleaching is obtained with UV-C, which is not always the case with chemical conventional methods. In conclusion, the use of UV-C could be considered as an environmentally friendly good alternative to chemical products. Moreover, microorganisms are killed by radiation, while no change in pigment color nor in their chemical structure has been observed.

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Acknowledgment

We are grateful to the “Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication” (France) and the “Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques” (LRMH, Paris) for their financial contribution.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université de Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement, Besançon, France

    Stéphane Pfendler, Laurence Alaoui-Sossé, Lotfi Aleya & Badr Alaoui-Sossé

  2. Centre de Recherche sur la Conservation, Laboratoire de Recherche des Monuments Historiques, Champs-Sur-Marne, France

    Faisl Bousta

  3. Université de Bourgogne-Franche Comté, Institut Utinam, Besançon, France

    Abderrahim Khatyr

Authors
  1. Stéphane Pfendler
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  2. Faisl Bousta
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  3. Laurence Alaoui-Sossé
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  4. Abderrahim Khatyr
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  5. Lotfi Aleya
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  6. Badr Alaoui-Sossé
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stéphane Pfendler .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Maria Koui

  2. Dipartimento di Architettura Costruzione, Università Iuav di Venezia, Venezia, Italy

    Fulvio Zezza

  3. Department of Archival, Library and Information Studies, University of West Attica, Athens, Greece

    Dimitrios Kouis

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Pfendler, S., Bousta, F., Alaoui-Sossé, L., Khatyr, A., Aleya, L., Alaoui-Sossé, B. (2018). UV-C as an Efficient Means to Combat Biofilm Formation in Cultural Heritage Monument. Biodiversity and Impact on Prehistoric Pigments?. In: Koui, M., Zezza, F., Kouis, D. (eds) 10th International Symposium on the Conservation of Monuments in the Mediterranean Basin. MONUBASIN 2017. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78093-1_56

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