Arsenic and Old Lace: Controlling Hazardous Collection Materials Webinar

Are there hazardous materials in your collection but you don’t know what to do with them? Or do you think you might have problem materials lurking in your collection that you don’t even know about? Hazardous collection materials can include, among other things, firearms, aged medicinals, heavy metal pesticides, tin-mercury amalgam mirrors, and mold. This webinar will help you identify hazardous collection items, the safety risks they pose to you and your visitors, and how to control those risks in practical ways. The presentation will provide you with resources to understand how materials can be chemically, biologically and physically hazardous as well as the differences between materials that are inherently hazardous by nature or design or those acquire hazardous properties through treatment, contamination or degradation.

After identifying hazardous materials, collections caretakers are responsible for creating a safe environment to anyone who may come in contact with them. A large portion of the webinar will cover steps you can take to minimize risks posed to you, your staff, visitors, and the collection using methods you can conduct on your own, as well as identifying situations where you need the help of a specialist. The discussion will include assessment and management options ranging from collections management protocols, such as labeling, rehousing and conservation treatments to scientific testing. Numerous collections care and public health and safety resources that will help you design and implement your risk management strategies will be provided. Throughout the webinar, there will be time for in-depth question and answer sessions using case studies provided by both presenters and attendees.

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