Hydrogen sulfide and carbonyl sulfide in the museum environment-Part 1

This paper discusses H2S and OCS measurements in a variety of museums. It addresses several issues of interpretation of those results, such seasonal and spatial variation, effects of sources and sinks local to the measurement. Typical indoor H2S concentrations found vary from 86 to 600 ppt, whereas OCS varies from 400 to 850 ppt. A lowest observed adverse effect dose (LOAED) for H2S and silver is defined (3.85 μg m−3 yr−1 ∼2.5 ppb yr−1). All museum H2S concentration data collected by the authors thus far is compared to this LOAED and in the main found to be considerably lower. Therefore tarnishing is not solely a function of H2S, instead is the result of multiple factors.