Integrated pest management (cultural property)

Integrated pest management in museums, libraries, archives and private collections is the practice of monitoring and managing pest and environmental information with pest control methods to prevent pest damage to collections and cultural property. Preserving cultural property is the ultimate goal for these institutions. The pests come in many different forms: insects, mites, rodents, bats, birds, and fungi and the two most common types are insects and fungi. It is widely recommended that every museum have some form of pest control in place and monitoring system to protect their collection and that museums review their storage and museum facilities to determine how to best control and prevent pest infestations while utilizing an Integrated Pest Management plan.
Integrated Pest Management components.
Museum IPM is a sub specialty of Integrated pest management that focuses specifically on the application in museums and cultural institutions. The primary difference between IPM and Museum IPM is that in the context of a museum, the main focus is placed on the protection of collections from pests.
Integrated Pest Management is a ‘holistic’ approach to controlling pests” that seeks to understand what pests are attracted to, their habits, and life cycles. Part of this program is to identify what types of pests are located in the building, establish the museum's short- and long-term goals for their IPM program, and build a consensus amongst the staff. The museum should “consult experts if necessary and choose the most appropriate and safe control methods for (the) eradication” of the pests. It is important not to panic and rush to rash decisions if a few pests are discovered. A museum should be thoughtful and plan out of their steps before taking any action.
Integrated Pest Management requires the museum to allocate time and energy for the implementation and monitoring the progress of their program. An IPM program “will require the coordinated effort of all staff members to properly implement, and may initially be more expensive than traditional pest management”.
Implementation.
The implementation of integrated pest management should be done in steps. To begin, a museum should review a floor plan of the building and determine all “doors, windows, water and heat sources, and drains”, as well as all furniture and other objects within the museum. The museum can place traps that have been numbered and dated throughout the building using the floor plan as a guide of potential problem areas. The location of the traps should be documented and marked on the floor plan. Once the traps are in place, they should be monitored. Detailed notes should be made on the finding in the traps, which pests are being trapped, how they are accessing the museum, and what do these trapped pests look for in a food source. After the first few months, the trap placement should be refined to insure the best outcome.
Isolation and quarantine of any infested cultural objects.
Before any new items or objects enter the collection storage area, the contents should be inspected for any signs of insect activity. If an object is found, or even thought to be infested, it should be immediately isolated and put into quarantine. The museum should next look to identify the pest and determine what type of harm the pests can cause. Infested objects should be place into sealed plastic bags before moving them into the collection area. It is important to secure the object and make sure that no other eggs or larvae fall from the object and possibly spread the infestation. The objects around the quarantined object should also be examined to determine the extent of the infestation.
Monitoring and Inspection.
The museum must monitor all of their pest management programs to ensure they are effective. Routine monitoring will provide information about the points of entry, amount of insects, where they reside in the building, and what they are feeding on. With this information, a museum will be able to identify the damaged areas and what pests are infesting the museum. The staff should be careful in the placement of these traps to ensure that they do not come into contact with objects from the collection. When traps are placed in a new location in the building they should be checked within the first 48 hours. This will help confirm where the problem areas are located and if adjustments need to be made to the trap locations. The next step should be weekly and then monthly inspections. Once the pests have been identified and the best location confirmed, then the traps should be changed every two months, or sooner if they are full or have lost their stickiness.
When the staff conducts their insect monitoring, the staff member “should use a bright flashlight during inspections, looking for live adults and larvae and the presence of shed larval skins or feces”.&lt;ref name="http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/ipm/manual/museum.cfm"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; It is important for the museum staff to continually review all components of the pest management program and determine if adjustments are needed.
Identification and documentation.
A key component in Integrated Pest Management for museums is the ability to identify the pests causing issues so the museum staff can establish a plan of attack to remove the pest from the building. Traps can be used to identify the pests, the extent of infestation, and determine the source of the infestation. All of the identification information on the pests should be documented to keep track of the pests, points of entry, and potential damage the pest may cause. Having these “records of inspection results...will help identify seasonal risk factors and areas with a high frequency of problems”. The museum should review the data and ask “can we simply remove the pest? are eggs present? what is the least damaging approach to treatment?”. Once a museum have this information written down and confirmed by all those involved in the program, a treatment strategy can be planned and implemented.
Common pests in cultural property institutions.
There are many different type of pests that can affect a museum and its collection. It will be important for the museum staff to identify the pests, as well as understand how they will act and what they will feed on. Insects will cause damage not only through their feeding habits but their tracks, tunnel and nesting habits may also cause damage. Most damage will occur when the insect is in its larva stage – when most of the feeding takes place – though some insects like booklice will continue to damage objects past the larva stage. Rodents can cause further damage through the increased risk of fire when they gnaw on wires. Birds and bats can cause indirect damage to cultural materials and are more disruptive to heritage structures. Aside from being a source of inconvenience around the area through their irritating smell and health risks, their introduction of detritus is more concerning for the cultural materials.  As they not only cause soiling but also attracts other pests, mainly insects. Fungi (moulds) are ubiquitous and may colonize organic and inorganic materials exposed to adverse environmental conditions, particularly the presence of nutrients and moisture.
Rodents.
It will become apparent if your museum has a rodent infestation as the pests leave behind droppings and gnaw marks. Rodents will breed rapidly and begin shredding and nest in objects they come into contact with. It is important to note that rodents “will not discriminate between valuable objects, packing or rubbish”. It is important to never use rodent bait, because “poisoned rodents often crawl away and die in unreachable areas such as between walls and under furniture, and their carcasses provide food for other pests”. Traps should be used to remove rodents from the museum in a more humane manner that will prevent the rodents from attracting more pests or causing larger problems.
Birds.
Birds can cause damage to the exterior of the museum when they roost or nest on “windowsills, ledger, and other architectural features”. Bird droppings can cause staining and damage to the building and any fabric attached to the building. Museum staff will also need to be careful when they are around birds and items infested by birds as they can “pose a health hazard to humans ... as (they) carry parasites and disease”. Bird droppings can also be tracked into the museum and collection space, and by working to remove the birds from entrances, the tracking of the droppings can be controlled.
Bats.
Bats can cause damage and mess with their droppings.
Fungi.
In the presence of nutrients and under unfavourable climatic conditions such as excessive humidity, moulds can colonize both organic and inorganic surfaces. Moulds and mildew are generally conidial fungi as they grow on the surface of the initiated airborne objects. These conidia typically come with large airborne spores (pollen grain, textile fibres, skin cells, starch, grains, inorganic particles) called airspora, which are available in the air and can settle to an object's surface. Fungi excrete metabolic products (enzymes, glycerol, biofilm, organic acids, and pigments) that could cause damage to their substrates. For instance, objects like ceramics and stones could be corroded or etched by organic acid by-products of fungal germination such as citric, oxalic, succinic, glutamic, fumaric, malic and acetic acids.
The most vulnerable organic materials are paper and parchment, which are common carriers of valuable information. Moulds and mildew feed on them because they are cellulosic, proteinaceous, and include fatty components. They are relatively soft, entirely digested, and cellularly permeable. Furthermore, the resulting damage is disfiguring due to these qualities. Fungal activity on the paper, for example, or their contact with the substrate, results in discolouration known as fox spots. These could be colored conidia or other fungal components entangled in the paper fibers, such as hyphae and sclerotia.
Dirty dozen.
The "Dirty Dozen" are the top offenders within a museum and an IPM program must take all of these pests into account.
Pest prevention.
There are a number of steps that a museum can put in place to help to prevent pests within their buildings. It is important to inspect any item that is coming in the storage area such as a new accessions or loans. Museums should maintain good housekeeping and restrict food in the museum to help prevent pests in the first place. It is important for the museum to keep the environments in exhibition galleries and the collection storage areas stable with low, controlled humidity and temperature.
A museum may also install sweeps and gaskets on exterior doors, screens on all drains and windows, while also caulking all cracks in the building. Museums can make their facilities less attractive to pest by removing any plants growing near the building, cleaning the gutters, using sodium vapor lighting, minimizing dust, vacuuming the floors, and eliminating clutter.
Routes of entry.
Pest will always find a way into your building, so it is important to determine how pests are entering your building. The location of the building should be taken into account as every "building has their own ecosystem based on their location and other historic factors". It is important to secure the exterior of the building. It does not matter how many pests you trap and kill; if there is a way for more to enter your building you will never completely remove all pests from the building. All of the cracks and holes in the foundation should be sealed and repaired. All exterior trash receptacles should be placed away from the building, and plants should be at least a foot away from the building. Having grass growing against the building gives insects another way into the building and a place to hide and tunnel under the foundation.
All windows should be tightly sealed. Weatherstripping can be placed around the windows to insure that the window is tightly sealed.
All doors should be checked and confirmed that they are firmly on their hinges and brush sweepers are installed. Brush sweepers are highly effective against pests, especially rodents. Having sticky traps placed around the sides of doors may prevent pests and monitor what types of pests can be entering the museum.
Storage condition.
Collection storage areas are especially at risk from pests as they can be darker, tight spaces that often go undisturbed for long periods of time. If these tight spaces are left undisturbed and unmonitored for months or years at a time, they will provide an atmosphere for pests to nest in high quantities. All collection areas should be fully cleaned at least twice a year with regular inspections once a month.
Water sources.
Insects and other pests are attracted to water and damp areas. Common sources of water within the building are water pipes that can be found running throughout the building for restrooms, kitchens, water fountains, custodial closets, and climate control equipment. Water can also be found standing on the roof or in basement. If there are any unused pipes or drains, they should be screened or sealed off to not house unwanted guests.
Lights.
It is important to reduce the attractiveness of the building to pests, and one of the ways that this can be achieved is through the lighting. A museum should use light shields, curtains, and keep windows closed to minimize the attractiveness of entering the building. Any “lighting affixed to the building should be made with sodium vapor and not mercury” and should have a yellowish tint. Sodium vapor repels insects, and installing these lights outside of the building can help reduce the pests.
Housekeeping.
One of the most important compotes of preventing pests is having good housekeeping skills. The building should be regularly vacuumed, mopped, and dusted, and food debris should be removed. When the museum is vacuumed, the edge tool around the furniture and baseboards should be used as pests tend to hide in these locations. The collection storage area should be kept clean and free of clutter. Every six months the entire collection storage area should be cleaned, and every month a visual inspection should be conducted throughout the space.
Temperature and humidity.
Pests can be controlled and growth even slowed when the humidity and temperature is controlled. Humidity should be kept below a maximum of 50%. In some cases the pest infestation can be directly related to the humidity and temperature within the building. The optimum temperature should around 68 °F.
Screens, caulking, and filters.
Museum can use screens, filters, and caulking to prevent the entry of pests. Screens should be placed over windows and drains. Filters should be used on all of the air vents and replaced on a regular basis. Caulk can be used to seal cracks and holes in the walls, floors, and round pipes.
Food sources.
Pests can find many sources of food within a museum; “pests are normally wild creatures but they are opportunistic and if material is available that resembles their preferred natural food or nesting, they will readily adapt and possibly thrive." Food sources can range from human food, to plants and trash. Human food should be consumed in restricted area and have any food put away quickly after use. Plants can come in many forms, including potted plants, cut flowers, and dying plants. Trash should also be collected and removed from the building daily.
Pest removal.
Treating an object with heat is a method used to disinfect objects by either an oven or a commercial kiln. When the internal temperature reaches “130°F for three hours it will kill any insect”; however, this kind of heat can damage veneer, damage finish of specimens, warp lumber, or melt glues.
Freezing an object is one of the best ways to disinfect and to destroy pests. This process should be done in a controlled freezer that can reach temperatures below 0 °F. “Books, mammal, ethnographic materials and bird collections have been successfully frozen for insect control,” though freezing is not always the best option for certain objects such as certain woods, bone, lacquers, some painted surfaces, and leather. Before an object is frozen for one to two weeks, it should be wrapped tightly in plastic or in a plastic bag.
Vacuuming an infested object can remove pests. It is important to ensure that the “materials are not fragile or deteriorated" if they are to be vacuumed. Vacuuming should remove all of the hatched pest, but some eggs may remain as they can be microscopic. After the object has been vacuumed, it should be placed in a plastic bag isolating the object. During the isolation, the objects should be monitored to make sure that no pests remain on the object, and after the pests life cycle is completed the cleaning process may needed to be repeated.
Microwaving an infested object is still an experimental technique but has been known to “kill cockroach, silverfish, and psocids inside books ... the average infested book is microwaved on high for 20-30 seconds”.