Arkadiusz Knapik and Tomasz Zacharski, Jagiellonian Library, Kraków and Tatjana Timčenko and Greta Keraitė, Vilnius University Library

Chemical evaluation of disinfection with essential oils based on Vilnius University Library experience

Essential Oils have not been widely used in the field of mass disinfection of books and archives yet, although their antimicrobial properties have been well known since antiquity.

The Biomist Disinfection Chamber installed in the Vilnius University Library is the first device that works with essential oils in Europe. According to the information provided by the supplier, a Biomist chamber is harmless for people, the environment and objects (paper, writing implements) but unfortunately many potential customers are not convinced yet.

In this paper, certain issues regarding disinfection with essential oils provided by Biomist are discussed, including their influence on paper durability in the long-term, influence on the colour of the disinfected materials, both paper but also writing media and diffusion rate of EOils from paper as potential residue on/inside the disinfected objects.

In order to answer the first issue in connection with paper durability, thermal aging of treated samples followed by viscosity, FTIR and mechanical endurance measurements were taken. The data thus obtained were compared with unaged reference samples.

The influence of essential oils on paper and writing media was examined through the use of hyperspectral camera. Registered data cubes were compared for any changes induced by the treatment.

In order to answer last issue, the diffusion rate of EOils from paper and potential residue on/inside disinfected objects, two experiments with GC/MS were conducted.

These experiments seem to confirm that essential oils used in the Biomist Chamber are safe for disinfected objects and neither put extra stress on paper nor writing media.