Posted 01.06.2012 at 5:36 pm
9 Comments
Library Smell
Greg Friedler/Getty Images
The musty smell is most likely cellulose decay. Since the mid-19th century, when papermakers began using groundwood pulp in place of cotton or linen, most paper has contained an unstable compound called lignin, which breaks down into acids and makes paper very brittle. Since 2001, the Library of Congress has treated at least 250,000 books every year with magnesium oxide. The chemical deacidifies paper and slows decay.
Lorraine Gibson, a chemist at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, runs a project called Heritage Smells that will identify decay in its earliest stages. She is working on a handheld mass spectrometer, a sort of artificial nose that locates the molecules that cause the musty smell.
Molecules move down a flight tube, and the movement through the tube helps identify the mass of the molecule. Once researchers have identified the molecules that speed decay, they can work to stop it.
9 Comments
To comment, please Login.
Popular Tags
Science
|
|
|
|
|
|
June 2013: American Energy Independence
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more.
Popular on Popsci
Most Commented
Science
- Scientists Create First Cloned Human Embryo
- State Drops Charges Against High School Student Arrested For Science Experiment
- Dear Schools: Stop Treating Science-Curious Kids Like Criminals
- Mexican Cartels Control Pot Farms As Far North As Washington State
- Buzz Aldrin Wants To Send People On A One-Way Trip To Mars
- Space Tourism's Black Carbon Problem
- Giving White People The Illusion Of Darker Skin Makes Them Less Racist
- Cold Fusion Machine Gets Third-Party Verification, Inventor Says
- What Modern Humans Can Learn From The Neanderthals' Extinction
- FYI: Do Wind Farms Make It Less Windy?
Most Emailed
Science
- Climate Change Will Increase Heat-Related Deaths In NYC, Study Says
- Why Are Tornadoes So Hard To Predict?
- Scientists Reveal The Cause Of The Irish Potato Famine
- Reconstructing The Oklahoma Tornado From Start To Finish, In Videos
- Megapixels: A Parasitic Worm Infects An Ant
- Cold Fusion Machine Gets Third-Party Verification, Inventor Says
- Inside The World's Most Ambitious Eco-City
- Huge Tornado Flattens Towns Near Oklahoma City [Updated]
- Number Of Published Cancer Studies That Can't Be Reproduced Is Shockingly High
- IMDB's Greatest Movies Ever, Beautifully Organized By Genre [Infographic]
Most Viewed
Science
- Climate Change Will Increase Heat-Related Deaths In NYC, Study Says
- Why Are Tornadoes So Hard To Predict?
- Scientists Reveal The Cause Of The Irish Potato Famine
- Reconstructing The Oklahoma Tornado From Start To Finish, In Videos
- Megapixels: A Parasitic Worm Infects An Ant
- Cold Fusion Machine Gets Third-Party Verification, Inventor Says
- Inside The World's Most Ambitious Eco-City
- Huge Tornado Flattens Towns Near Oklahoma City [Updated]
- Number Of Published Cancer Studies That Can't Be Reproduced Is Shockingly High
- IMDB's Greatest Movies Ever, Beautifully Organized By Genre [Infographic]
Online Content Director: Suzanne LaBarre | Email
Senior Editor: Paul Adams | Email
Associate Editor: Dan Nosowitz | Email
Assistant Editor: Colin Lecher | Email
Assistant Editor: Rose Pastore | Email
Contributing Writers:
Rebecca Boyle | Email
Kelsey D. Atherton | Email
Francie Diep | Email
Shaunacy Ferro | Email
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2012 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
The REAL answer?
Vashta Nerada.
-Spouting a fountain of nonsense since 1995-
This article was so small, it neglected to mention why paper makers started using groundwood pulp. Furthermore, it neglected to mention that it also replaced hemp paper, even though it doesn't suffer from the same problem over a comparable amount of time since it contains only a fraction of the lignin.
Can we get a further explanation on the costs of this sniffing/restoration vs simply changing the format it's stored in?
I agree with Elliot, we need to call in The Doctor ASAP!
It's interesting that people mistake the smell of an old book, with the smell of cigarette smoke. My girlfriend owns a bookstore and she has had people return their books, because they think people have been smoking around them. I personally love the smell of old books.
the real answer, old librarians that dont get out much..... work on that decaying molecule :O
I usually find the smell is a moldy book somewhere. It doesn't take much liquid to start the process and it spreads. After a library has mold the smell never seems to leave.
I have always wondered what the smell ways. Obviously it was book and or paper related but I didn't know the chemical process and the lignin content. I do have a question remaining after this article. How are the books sprayed in the Library of Congress? Is there a fogger for every room,or do they remove each book individually and spray?
Readers of this article might want to read this www.the-gist.org/2011/07/the-heritage-smells-project/
I wrote this article a while back and it gives a little bit more depth (although not an overwhelming amount) to the Heritage smells! project. I'm not normally one for gratuitous self-promotion but this seemed very relevant, especially as people weren't happy with the length of this piece.
Whilst you're there if you want to have a peek at some of the other articles then it'd make me quite happy.
AdamWM - I think that the point of the heritage smells! project was to allow the curator to detect which book (and indeed other pieces, such as ethnographic art and plastic-based media) needed attention thus allowing him/her to attend to the item on an individual basis.