Microbial environmental monitoring in museums: preventive conservation of graphic collections

The air in indoor and outdoor environments contains a large number of suspended particles of various origin, size and shape which make up the atmospheric aerosol. A proportion of these particles is of biological origin and constitutes the bioaerosol or biological aerosol. Most of them are fungal and bacterial spores, Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, lichen propagules, algal cells, pollen grains, protozoan cysts and viruses. The bioaerosol is a potential biodeteriogen for graphic collections which include prints, drawings, watercolors, books, photographs, etc. preserved in museums, libraries and archives. Paper items of historical and artistic value are subject to aggression by specific bacterial and fungal microflora. If certain conditions are met, biological particles deposited on the surface of artworks can form colonies, resulting in damage to the artwork itself.