Indoor Air Quality in Heritage and Museum Buildings

The conservation state of works of art exhibited inside museums is strongly influenced by the indoor air quality. Temperature and relative humidity are among the parameters generally monitored, but they are not the only ones to be kept under control. One of the parameters that can negatively affect indoor air quality is aerosol particulate matter (PM) and especially its concentration, size distribution, and chemical composition. In order to acquire more detailed information on possible threats to which works of art are subjected, a deep knowledge of PM chemical and physical characteristics is mandatory. In particular the finer fraction is of great concerns and must be considered since nanoparticles are able to interact with the work of arts surfaces. To set up mitigation strategies aimed to prevent the deterioration of items stored in museums and archives, the relation between indoor and outdoor pollutant concentrations should be also considered. In the present chapter, an overview and an update on the state of the art on indoor techniques for the study of microclimatic conditions as well as monitoring of gaseous pollutants, aerosol particulate matter, and microbiological contaminants will be presented and discussed together with some significative case studies.