There is a lot if information on pesticide use on biological specimens in the paper. We culled all the papers from curatorial and preservation journals as far back as we could find them and there were hundreds of chemicals either recommended and tried at various times or found on specimen analysis.  Mercury and arsenic were the most common, but pentachlorophenol, PCBs, and DDT were right up there in numbers as well.  And every pesticide ever made was tried by some conservator or other. 

 

What got me interested was a museum at which I was consulting tested some biological specimens and found many different preservatives on even single items.  It seems that when they would hire some new conservator, the new hire would add their own special favorite preservative to the mix just to be sure nothing went bad on their watch. And treatment records were not routinely kept then as they are now. 

 

The issue got hot again in 2000 when the repatriated Native American artifacts were found laced with pesticides.  The problems arouse because the Native Americans wanted to wear the masks, garments, and headdresses in their ceremonies and considered them sacred and magical.   So I presented at the first big conference on this subject:  "More than Magic: Pesticides on NAGPRA Sacred Objects," written for a San Francisco State University conference on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. ACTS distributed, 2/2001.

 

And now, a colleague on the other Coast, Peter Palmer has worked on and has lots of expertise in non-destructive testing of these (or any other) objects to determine what is on them.  If anyone needs to know more about testing, contact me off line and I'll connect you with Peter.