The results of Chloé Lucas’ research on ethanol disinfection to treat mould damaged photographs just got published in Restorator, a peer-reviewed journal.
Abstract
This study deals with mould damaged photographic gelatin disinfection methods. Ethanol is used as an antifungal treatment, with success, in the medical and food industry. A solution of deionised water and absolute ethanol (30:70 v/v) mixture has been shown as the most efficient. The goal of this study was to determine a suitable method to apply this mixture in order to obtain a biocide effect. Three implementations were tested: solvent chamber, direct contact and direct contact followed by a mechanical removal. Different treatment times were tested for each method. The tests were done on four fungal strains: Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus niger, Chaetomium globosum and Penicillium brevicompactum. The deionized water and absolute ethanol mixture, applied for two hours in a solvent chamber, succeeded in inactivating the four tested fungal strains.
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