Hello Keri,
What a great and relevant question!
In fact, one of
FAIC's expert staff members, Tiffani Emig, posted about the subject just the other morning! Tiffani's post includes a
fantastic guide from AAM about COVID-19 and museum personnel and collection safety recommendations.
https://www.aam-us.org/programs/resource-library/human-resource-resources/health-in-the-workplace/According to the CDC and EPA, you will want to use an approved cleaning agent that will disinfect the surfaces (while not interrupting the polyurethane coated surface in your case). Normally, a simple alcohol solution would be the best selection; however, alcohol in high enough concentrations is known to affect or react with polyurethane surfaces. Also, milder disinfectants like vinegar have not been tested and therefore cannot be recommended for killing COVID-19 bacteria, and Murphy's Oil Soap has not been tested yet to understand its efficacy against killing the virus. The EPA just released a list of disinfectant products approved for use against COVID-19 on surfaces. (
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2020-03/documents/sars-cov-2-list_03-03-2020.pdf)
It is our recommendation to use a commercially-available disinfectant wipe product (vetted by the EPA/CDC/WHO) to first disinfect the communal work spaces and surfaces. Afterwards, you could then clear the table surfaces of any potential residues from the wipes with a warm damp cloth, paper towel, or rag. That way you are disinfecting the table surface (which in my opinion, is the MOST important thing at this time) but also ensuring that residues left behind are likely negligible.
I would like to state that neither I, nor the C2CC community, are trained healthcare professionals and that the aforementioned information is the best advice we can offer
based on public information from the CDC, WHO, and EPA, and that we cannot ensure that COVID-19 will undoubtedly be prevented by these measures.
Please do let us know if you have any more questions, we are standing by!
Best,
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Nicole Peters
Conservator
Peters Art Conservation Services, LLC
Skagway AK
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