Hello Christian,
Our collections have several toxin concerns: arsenic in old taxidermy, pesticides in old farm equipment and celluloid in addition to assorted other concerns. I found a book that was very helpful not only with identification of toxins, symptoms
of effect to humans, what cautions to take and possible remediation, but also writing condition reports for toxic items, and policy suggestions. Old Poisons New Problems – A Museum Resource for managing Contaminated Cultural Materials by Nancy Odegaard,
Alyce Sadongi and Assoc. 2005. Our state of New Jersey is very strict about pollutants and toxins so this book really helped. Also, the people at the Smithsonian were very helpful and there are websites in US that handle poisons and toxins. Suggest you
check the government environmental department in where you are.
In some cases disposal is all one can do.
Good Luck,
Cheryl
Cheryl Stoeber-Goff, Museum Curator
Historic Services Division
Monmouth County Park System
Ph: 732-975-9747 Fx: 732-975-9748
805 Newman Springs Rd, Lincroft, NJ 07738