For more than a century, chemical poisons have been applied to museum collections to prevent them from being damaged by insects, rodents, and other pests. These poisons, known as pesticides, include herbicides, which kill plants, fungicides, which kill molds, and various other substances. They have been used to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate pests. Under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), federally recognized American Indian tribes can take back certain items from museums and federal agencies. Many of these cultural items have been contaminated with pesticides. Because these items are being handled and used in traditional ways, pesticide contamination is an urgent and serious concern. In addition, pesticide contamination can be an influential factor for tribes when deciding whether to repatriate certain items through NAGPRA. Also, pesticides have been routinely used in game mounts. Many museums have, for example, mounted deer, elk, or buffalo on display that may have been contaminated with arsenic or other pesticides harmful to people.  

What are Pesticides?  
Pesticides are chemicals used to kill organisms that are considered pests. Pesticides enter an organism's body through the skin (dermal), mouth (oral), or lungs (inhalation). Repeated applications are often considered necessary because the effects of many chemical pesticides are temporary. On the other hand, some chemicals referred to as residuals remain active, and applications made many years ago are still effective today.

What Are the Signs of Pesticide Contamination?  
There are a few indications that an item has probably been treated with pesticides. Look for the following:  

• Immediately suspect an item of contamination if it is in markedly better condition than other similar items of the same materials, age, and storage conditions.  
• Sometimes items that have been treated have a poison tag attached to them.  
• Be suspicious of any fine white dust you see on an item even though this could be just dirt.  
• Beware of crystals or colored efflorescence on an item.  
• Suspect anything you cannot identify. 

Have Museum Workers Been Poisoned by Pesticides?
There is no doubt that pesticides have affected many museum workers. These effects generally occurred during the days of unprotected and unregulated pesticide applications when exposures to large concentrated amounts of chemicals were possible. Since the introduction of professional conservation and collections care practices, there has been an increase in the use of personal protective equipment (gloves, smocks or lab coats, and particle masks), restrictions regarding the use of pesticides, and regulations affecting the application of pesticides. Also, because mqseum workers do not return items to cultural use (traditional handling or wearing or ceremonial interactions), the points of entry (mouth, skin, nose) on their bodies have not had prolonged or repeated exposure to pesticide residues. Various studies done on agricultural workers and more recently on museum workers illustrate the value of personal protective equipment.   

• Replacement: removal of the entire item and replacement of it with a duplicate, reproduction, or alternate item.
• Containment: application of covers or coatings that isolate the hazardous material from human exposure.
• Washing: removal of contaminants by water, laundering, or solvent wiping.
• Physical removal: removal by manual scraping, vacuum suction, laser blast, or exposure to high heat or ultra1'iolet light.
• Chemical removal: removal by the application of chemical processes.
• Biological removal: removal by the application of specialized microorganisms. 

Excerpts from Chapter 10 of Caring for American Indian Objects, reprinted with permission from Dr. Nancy Odegaard.

Old Poisons, New Problems

Dr. Nancy Odegaard is the Conservator and Head of the Preservation Division for the Arizona State Museum and a Professor in the Department of Anthropology. Nancy holds a Ph.D. in Applied Science through the Conservation and Cultural Heritage Science Studies Department of the University of Canberra, Australia. She earned her M.A. in Museum Studies/Anthropology at the George Washington University with a Certificate in Ethnographic and Archaeological Conservation from the Smithsonian Institution. Nancy specializes in the conservation of archaeological and ethnographic objects. She is the author of the 2005 publication Old Poisons, New Problems about pesticides on Native museum objects. She teaches the online class MS 255: Dangerous Materials: Chemical Poisons in Collections.

During a disaster, human health and safety are everyone's responsibility. There are many steps you can take during planning to promote preventive and common sense measures. Understanding the roles and responsibilities of the first responders (usually fire or police) as well as the roles of your staff, will be essential in implementing all safety issues. You need to consider the emotional well being of the people who respond and what to expect from the survivors.

Know the people who will be called as first responders   

During planning, identify the first responders in your community. These include the fire chief, law enforcement officers and emergency medical technicians. Invite them for a tour of your museum. They should be familiar with your operations. They will be making all decisions in the first 24 hours (or longer) of many emergencies. They will not relinquish leadership to the museum until the emergency is under control. The first responders will monitor health and safety issues. Remember, human safety comes first and building structure/contents second. The fire chief determines what risks exist to human life and safety. He or she determines when the building is safe to reenter. It could be days before you can return to your building. If your institution is part of a larger organization, such as a university or county government, your own institution's security and law enforcement will be next in the chain of command and should be included in planning. During an emergency, museum staff will provide requested information, but will not be part of the first response team. Information about conditions inside the building will be relayed to the incident command post.     

If you have an emergency that does not require emergency services and can be dealt with in-house, all team members will need to be aware of standard health and safety risks and know how to respond. A clear chain of command should be established for in-house emergencies. The order for initial in-house contacts should be listed on your telephone tree. 

When an in-house emergency becomes too much for the staff or volunteers to handle, call 911 and activate the entire telephone tree immediately. The health and safety officer has a key role in any emergency and to be an effective leader, staff or volunteers must be willing to trust his or her judgment.  

Excerpt from MS205: Disaster Plan Reseach and Writing.  

To become a part of your community's response network, consider CERT training. The Community Emergency Response Team concept was developed by the Los Angeles City Fire Department in 1985. Because area-wide disasters make it difficult to impossible for trained response personnel to reach communities, CERT trains civilians to meet their immediate needs.  

Terri Schindel graduated from the Courtauld Art Institute, University of London with a concentration in textile conservation. Since 1988 she has taught collections care and preventive conservation to museum staff. She has assisted museums in writing disaster plans for more than a decade and helped develop national standards for disaster-preparedness materials. Ms. Schindel specializes in collection care and preventive conservation and works regularly with small, rural and tribal museums. She is familiar with the many challenges and lack of resources facing these institutions. Ms. Schindel is committed to maintaining the uniqueness of each museum while ensuring that they serve as a resource for future generations. She teaches the online course MS205: Disaster Plan Reseach and Writing. 

Regional Workshops  

Where you can find some of our instructors this fall.