The Use of Oxygen-Free Environments in the Control of Museum Insect Pests

Shin Maekawa and Kerstin Elert
2003

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Museums throughout the world face the challenge of finding nontoxic methods to control insect pests. This book focuses on practical rather than theoretical issues in the use of oxygen-free environments, presenting a detailed, hands-on guide to the use of oxygen-free environments in the eradication of museum insect pests.

This volume discusses the use of nitrogen as the inert gas used to replace oxygen, and on the use of a few specific types of containers as treatment chambers. An initial chapter explains the general advantages anoxia offers museum conservators. Subsequent chapters discuss methods and materials, small-scale anoxia using an oxygen absorber, large-scale anoxia using external nitrogen sources, and protocols for insect eradication using nitrogen anoxia. Appendices include a list of manufacturers and suppliers of material and equipment used in nitrogen anoxia.

Related Getty Conservation Institute project: Nitrogen Anoxia Research

How to Cite this Work
Maekawa, Shin, and Kerstin Elert. 2003. The Use of Oxygen-Free Environments in the Control of Museum Insect Pests. Tools for Conservation. Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute. http://hdl.handle.net/10020/gci_pubs/oxygen_free_enviro