Abstract
This study investigates the complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by and accumulated within a collection of historic medicinal, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic artifacts housed at the National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution). In recent years, staff have become concerned, both for the safety of the objects and for personnel working in the collection, about strong unremediated odors accumulating within several storage cabinets. Museum staff also wondered if non-odorous off-gassing might need remediation. Solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis (SPME–GC–MS) was used to identify VOCs present in the storage room housing the collection. Over 160 compounds were detected and identified overall. Among these, 49 appeared to be directly related to ingredients used in the manufacture of many collection items. The results of the study suggest that SPME–GC–MS can be a strong tool for the rapid screening of multicomponent museum collections exhibiting off-gassing problems, before the pursuit of other more tedious analytical approaches. Additionally, the study reveals valuable insight into the characteristic volatile emission of historic medicinal, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic artifacts, increasing understanding of, and decision-making for, similar collections of objects. Eventually, it is hoped that this information can be used to inform mitigation strategies for the capture and reduction of VOCs in collections storage areas.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Abdollahi M, Nili-Ahmadabadi A (2014) Paraldehyde. In: Wexler P (ed) Encyclopedia of toxicology (Third Edition). Academic Press, Oxford, pp 754–755. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-386454-3.01151-9
Alvarez-Martin A, McHugh K, Martin C, Kavich G, Kaczkowski R (2020) Understanding air-tight case environments at the National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution) by SPME-GC-MS analysis. J Cult Herit. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2020.01.004
Eseyin AE, Steele PH (2015) An overview of the applications of furfural and its derivatives. Int J Adv Chem. https://doi.org/10.14419/ijac.v3i2.5048
AOEC (2010) Association of occupational and environmental clinics. Description of the AOEC exposure code system. http://www.aoecdata.org/. Accessed 13 Nov 2020
Batterman S, Jia C, Hatzivasilis G (2007) Migration of volatile organic compounds from attached garages to residences: a major exposure source. Environ Res 104:224–240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2007.01.008
Burdock GA (2004) Fenaroli’s Handbook of Flavor Ingredients. CRC Press
Burger P, Plainfossé H, Brochet X, Chemat F, Fernandez X (2019) Extraction of natural fragrance ingredients: history overview and future trends. Chem Biodivers 16:e1900424. https://doi.org/10.1002/cbdv.201900424
Clarke S (2008) Chapter 3 - Families of compounds that occur in essential oils. In: Clarke S (ed) Essential Chemistry for Aromatherapy (Second Edition). Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, pp 41–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-443-10403-9.00003-0
Eastman (2020) Eastman™ Triacetin, Food Grade. Eastman Chemical Company
EMA (2014) European Medicines Agency. Committee on herbal medicinal products. Public statement on the use of herbal medicinal products containing estragole
EPA (2020a) Volatile organic compounds' impact on indoor air quality. https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/volatile-organic-compounds-impact-indoor-air-quality. Accessed 13 Nov 2020
EPA (2020b) United States Environmental Protection Agency. Laws & Regulations. https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations. Accessed 13 Nov 2020
Greenberg MJ (1997) Enhanced flavors using 2'-hydroxypropiophenone. US Patent
Grzywacz C (1993) Using passive sampling devices to detect pollutants in museum environments. In
Grzywacz CM (2006) Monitoring for gaseous pollutants in museum environments. Tools for Conservation. Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles
Hatchfield PB (2002) Pollutants in the museum environment. Archetype Publications Ltd., London
Hodgkins R, Madden O, Heald S (2014) Substituting SPME for noses in the detection and quantification of mothball vapors from textiles in the National Museum of the American Indian Collection. ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Conference Ethnographic collections
Kataoka H (2017) Chapter 1 - Sample preparation for liquid chromatography. In: Fanali S, Haddad PR, Poole CF, Riekkola M-L (eds) Liquid chromatography (second edition). Elsevier, pp 1–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-805392-8.00001-3
Lapczynski A, McGinty D, Jones L, Bhatia S, Letizia CS, Api AM (2007) Fragrance material review on ethyl salicylate. Food Chem Toxicol 45:S397–S401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2007.09.043
Lattuati-Derieux A, Thao S, Langlois J, Regert M (2008) First results on headspace-solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry of volatile organic compounds emitted by wax objects in museums. J Chromatogr A 1187:239–249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2008.02.015
López-Muñoz F, Ucha-Udabe R, Alamo C (2005) The history of barbiturates a century after their clinical introduction. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 1:329–343
McDonald BC et al (2018) Volatile chemical products emerging as largest petrochemical source of urban organic emissions. Science 359:760–764. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0524
Mohamed MF, Kang D, Aneja VP (2002) Volatile organic compounds in some urban locations in United States. Chemosphere 47:863–882. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0045-6535(02)00107-8
NAFA (2016) National Air Filtration Association Guideliness. Recommended practices for filtration for libraries, archives and Museums
Nematollahi N, Kolev SD, Steinemann A (2018) Volatile chemical emissions from essential oils. Air Qual Atmos Health 11:949–954. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-018-0606-0
Nematollahi N, Weinberg JL, Flattery J, Goodman N, Kolev SD, Steinemann A (2020) Volatile chemical emissions from essential oils with therapeutic claims. Air Qual Atmos Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00941-4
Odegaard N (2019) Pesticide contamination and archaeological collections: contextual information for preparing a pesticide history. Adv Archaeol Pract 7:292–301. https://doi.org/10.1017/aap.2019.28
Ormsby M, Johnson JS, Heald S, Chang L, Bosworth J (2006) Investigation of solid phase microextraction sampling for organic pesticide residues on museum collections. Collection Forum 20(1–2):1–12
Ryhl-Svendsen M, Glastrup J (2002) Acetic acid and formic acid concentrations in the museum environment measured by SPME-GC/MS. Atmos Environ 36:3909–3916. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(02)00335-7
Sudakin DL, Stone DL, Power L (2011) Naphthalene mothballs: emerging and recurring issues and their relevance to environmental health. Curr Top Toxicol 7:13–19
Tétreault J, Dupont AL, Bégin P, Paris S (2013) The impact of volatile compounds released by paper on cellulose degradation in ambient hygrothermal conditions. Polym Degrad Stab 98:1827–1837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2013.05.017
Tsukada M, Rizzo A, Granzotto C (2012) A new strategy for assessing off-gassing from museum materials: air sampling in Oddy Test Vessels. American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works 37:1–7
Zhang QL, Fu BM, Zhang ZJ (2017) Borneol, a novel agent that improves central nervous system drug delivery by enhancing blood-brain barrier permeability. Drug Delivery 24:1037–1044. https://doi.org/10.1080/10717544.2017.1346002
Acknowledgements
AAM acknowledges the Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Conservation of Museum Collections and the Museum Conservation Institute. MW thanks Smithsonian National Museum of American History Preservation Services for support of her graduate fellowship.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
AAM, MW, and RA selected the sampling locations and performed the sampling. AAM performed the analysis and data processing. AAM and MW wrote the manuscript, with edits and comments from all other participants. All authors were responsible for conception and design of the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Alvarez-Martin, A., Wilcop, M., Anderson, R. et al. Investigation of volatile organic compounds in museum storage areas. Air Qual Atmos Health 14, 1797–1809 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-021-01054-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-021-01054-2