Particle board and many variants (Baraboard, etc.) as well as many plywoods
off-gas formaldehyde and/or uric acid. Consider these when making shelving
choices.  Also consider that coatings, including epoxy type coatings, are
still porous enough to permit gas and moisture exchange.

Wayne Hart, Executive Director
Museum of Valor



At 06:58 PM 5/20/98 -0700, you wrote:
>Can anyone refer me to a resource for learning more about OFF-GASSING of
>particle board used as shelving for museum collections? Read on.
>I work in a rural County museum where the storage area was a mess when I
>started three years ago. Working with a meager budget, I have managed to
>organize the storage area by purchasing several PENCO rivet-rite
>shelving units each year. Many of the units were ordered with box
>supports, and artifacts stored in archival boxes. However I have one
>unit where "long and skinny" artifacts are stored horizontally on
>particle board shelves which I have covered with sheets of foam, and
>other shelving units for oversized, un-boxed stuff that also have
>particle board shelves. When we have used particle board for the shelf
>surface, we have sealed it with a resin sealer and placed a layer of
>foam between the wood and the artifacts. The long term goal is to
>eventually replace the particle board with steel wire shelving. My more
>immediate goals are 1) to organize storage so that I can find objects
>(what does "Open Storage mean? try spending half a day looking), and
>monitor for pest activity in an organized and scheduled fashion; and 2)
>to get everything up off the floor so that the storage area can be
>cleaned on a regular basis, and for IPM considerations.
>
>Given my limited budget, I can either 1) organize storage and implement
>an intergrated pest management which includes regular cleaning of
>storage areas and monitoring for insect activity (and there is insect
>activity!); or 2)let the stuff stack, sit on the floor, collect dust or
>whatever and only purchase new shelving units when I can afford the wire
>racks to go with them.
>In the past 3 years I have acquired enough shelving units to allow me to
>get almost everything into organized storage. I have also been able to
>reconfigure the units to line up so that this year I'll be able to tie
>them all together across the tops and up to the beams so that they don't
>all fall over when we have the next big earthquake (I've also purchased
>glow-in-the-dark tape to mark exit routes down all corridors in case of
>power failure - there is absolutely no light back there when the
>electricity goes).
>All things considered, I think the particle board is less of a risk to
>artifacts in the short term than the potential for damage from insects,
>earthquakes, and disorganization. However my superior wants me to write
>a paper justifying my request for another shelving unit (this one would
>be 12 feet long and 10 feet high, for storing 20 32" x 42" archival
>boxes which contain a huge collection of aerial photos of the county
>where we are situated - Currently these boxes are stacked 7 deep on the
>floor in the area where I hope the shelving unit will someday sit. There
>is no place else to put them and the access to the photos stinks).
>Please reply direct to my e-mail -- [log in to unmask] - would be
>interested in hearing from other curatorial personnel regarding this
>issue. Thanks!
>Rebecca Snetselaar, Curator of Collections
>
>