A Machine for Ionizing Radiation Treatment of Bio-Deteriogens Infesting Artistic Objects

Precious cultural heritage has been inherited through past activities and maintained by the generations, and it includes artifacts and objects preserved in institutes or museum areas. As part of the study, the conservation of art objects and other cultural assets was carried out at the ENEA Frascati Research Center and attention was paid to the biodegradation aspect caused by microorganisms that cause the loss of information and artistic characteristics contained in the artifacts, for example, through covering them, the loss of color and the smearing of decorative or writing strokes. A non-chemical and non-toxic, completely ecological approach is used as an alternative bio-removal treatment to control the pathogens: these are the disinfection procedures that were applied using the REX machine. The beams of photons and electrons produced by this facility carried out anti-biodegradation activities for the control of deteriogens isolated from multi-material works. This communication concerns the REX machine, which is framed in the context of ENEA and in the panorama of activities carried out for the conservation of cultural heritage, presenting its application to case studies in which the developed technique was demonstrated as a non-invasive treatment for bio-degradation removal.