Progress in Project on the Feasibility of Using Modified Atmospheres for Museum Pest Eradication: an Overview

The Getty Conservation Institute and the J. Paul Getty Museum have been studying the use of low oxygen atmospheres using nitrogen for pest eradication. Earlier work by Nieves Valentin and Frank Preusser found that a 30-hour exposure to an atmosphere of 0.5% oxygen and 99.5% nitrogen killed all life stages of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) [1]. In a collaborative project at the University of California at Riverside, we have proven the mortality of all stages of ten commonly found museum pests at an oxygen concentration of 0.1%, 55% relative humidity and 25.5 C temperature. The species studied were the webbing clothes moth, furniture carpet beetle, firebrat, cabinet beetle, larder beetle, cigarette beetle, confused flour beetle, cockroach, powderpost beetle and western drywood termite. The time required for 100% kill varied from three hours for the adult firebrat to 192 hours for the eggs of the cigarette beetle. [2,3]