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The Impact of Hand Sanitizers on Collection Materials
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Background: As with many heritage institutions, hand sanitizers solutions are provided in Library of Congress (LC) reading rooms and public areas. There has been interest into the impact or effect of any of these solutions, or whether it could be detected that transfer to collection items could occur. The Preservation Research and Testing Division (PRTD) screened two classes of sanitizers (alcohol-based and water-based) to assess their effect on paper based collection materials.
Project Description: Several paper types and two sanitizer classes were tested using accelerated aging techniques in conjunction with colorimetry. Paper types included newsprint, calendared or gloss-coated, Whatman filter, and Mead Bond. Five sanitizers, two alcohol-based and three water-based solutions, were tested.
To qualitatively assess the effect of hand sanitizers on paper, the four paper types were coated directly with hand sanitizers, allowed to dry, and aged at 90ÂșC & 50% relative humidity (RH). Aging at elevated temperature and RH was employed to increase the rate of degradation according to the TAPPI 544 standard. Colorimetry assesses the color of an object relative to a standardized white reflector, and this technique was used to correlate the degree of degradation of hand sanitizer coated papers relative to non-coated papers.
- The results from colorimetry measurements indicated an increase in yellowness for the coated relative to uncoated papers, where both were exposed to elevated heat and humidity.
- Alcohol-based hand sanitizers showed the most significant changes in color compared to water-based.
- Differences in color between the uncoated and coated aged samples were visually detectable in some cases.
- For the water-based sanitizers, the water-based formulation with the fewest ingredients, showed minimal to no detectable color difference after application of the sanitizer solution
- While hand washing is recommended over sanitizing, because the former removes dirt and oils where the later does not, if sanitizers continue to be offered at various institutions, water-based formulations are recommended.
Acknowledgements: Alexandra Galindo