Connecting to Collections Care

Hello everyone,

My museum is looking to try and clean mostly brass musical instruments that have been stored long-term in a historic building that has had a bat infestation. The building is no longer infested and the guano has been removed, but we want to know how to go about cleaning the instruments and cases to ensure they are safe for staff to handle and be exposed to, and for use in future exhibitions. Some of the instruments are stored in cases - some modern plastic, some cardboard, and some historic wooden cases - and some instruments were stored in polyethylene bags. Any recommendations or recorces for cleaning these?

Many thanks!  

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Sarah Cohen
Collections Manager & Registrar
National Music Museum
Vermillion, SD
United States
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Hi Sarah!

I passed along your question to the AIHA's Biological and Microbiological Working Group and the Museum and Cultural Heritage Industry Working Groups to see if anyone has experience with bat guano remediation and/or PPE selection. Looks like most government agencies recommend a bleach disinfection at least

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Jessica Ricchio
North & Northwest Program Leader Workforce Health and Safety
McHenry
United States
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Hi Sarah!

Here's a response from Kathy Makos :)

Jessica: I ran this by a family member who is a professional trombonist and familiar with the restrictions on collection care. He said that most brass instrument cleanings involve either strong acids to chemically clean or sonic cleaning. He noted that there were several instrument repair stores in the Vermillion SD area and he would be surprised if the National Music Museum would not already have a professional relationship with one of them. They should look for someone with an academic certificate as an Instrument Repair Technician and vet their cleaning protocols against their conservation protocols. Although it seems that strong acids/sonic cleaning would kill the biohazards they describe, the next step to be sure would be to call their county public health office and check.

Pass this along and hope this helps!

Kathy  

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Kathryn Makos MPH, CIH
Rockville MD

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Jessica Ricchio
North & Northwest Program Leader Workforce Health and Safety
McHenry
United States
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