Electron beam for preservation of biodeteriorated cultural heritage paper-based objects

Unsuitable storage conditions or accidents such as floods can present a serious threat for large quantities of book making them prone to attack by harmful microorganisms. The microbiological degradation of archives and book collections can be efficiently inhibited with irradiation processing. Application of EB irradiation to book and archive collections can also be a very effective alternative to the commonly used ethylene oxide treatment, which is toxic to the human and natural environment. In this study was evaluated the influence of EB irradiation used for microbiological decontamination process on paper-based objects. Three different kinds of paper (Whatman CHR 1, office paper and newsprint paper) were treated with 0.4, 1, 2, 5, 10 and 25kGy electron beam irradiation. Optical and mechanical properties of different sorts of paper treated with e-beam, before and after the radiation process were studied. These results, which correlated with absorbed radiation doses effective for the elimination of Aspergillus niger (A. niger) allowed to determine that EB irradiation with absorbed radiation dose of 5kGy ensures safe decontamination of different sorts of paper-based objects. •Electron beam irradiation has been proposed to treat paper-based objects.•The effect of wide range of dosses on different kinds of paper was investigated.•Optical and mechanical parameters of irradiated papers were studied.•Effectiveness of different irradiation doses against A. niger was determined.•Dose 5kGy was established as sufficient for fungi elimination and safe for the paper stability.