Terje Grøntoft

• Norwegian Institute for Air Research

A method was developed to analytically distinguish between the ventilated (v) and nonventilated (nv) fractions of water-soluble ions in deposits of particle indoors. The indicative method was based on low-cost passive outdoor and indoor sampling of the particle and ion deposits and NO2 gas and analysis of the regression values and residuals of the...

In recent years increased research efforts and environmental improvements have been directed towards the preventive conservation of the monumental, unvarnished oil paintings on canvas (1909–1916) by Edvard Munch (1863–1944) housed in the University of Oslo Aula. Surface soiling of the paintings has been a documented issue since their display, and t...

Pollutant gases pose a significant risk to some cultural heritage objects, and surveys have shown that the professionals involved consider themselves to lack knowledge to fully assess risk. Three approaches towards risk assessment, research results, standards and damage functions have been considered. An assessment tool has been developed, collatin...

In recent years, increased research efforts and environmental improvements have been directed towards the preventive conservation of the monumental, unvarnished oil paintings on canvas (1909–1916) by Edvard Munch (1863–1944) housed in the University of Oslo Aula. Surface soiling of the paintings has been a documented issue since their display, and...

HERIe was used to model the effect of changes to indoor climate on the risk of humidity-induced mechanical damage (cracking and plastic deformation) to wooden panels painted with stiff gesso in two Norwegian medieval stone churches: Kinn (mean relative humidity (RH, %) = 79%) on the humid west coast, and Ringsaker (mean RH = 49%) in the drier easte...

The historical (1835–2020) deposition of major air pollutants (SO 2 , NOx, O 3 and PM 2.5 ) indoors, as represented by the monumental Edvard Munch paintings (c. 220 m ² ) installed in 1916 in the Oslo University Aula in Norway, were approximated from the outdoor air concentrations, indoor to outdoor concentration ratios and dry deposition velocitie...

This paper reports 1 year of monthly average NO2 indoor to outdoor (I/O) concentrations measured in 10 European museums, and a simple steady‐state box model that explains the annual variation. The measurements were performed in the EU FP5 project Master (EVK‐CT‐2002‐00093). The work provides extensive documentation of the annual variation of NO2 I/...

The historical (1835–2020) dry deposition of major air pollutants (SO2, NOx, O3 and PM2.5) in the urban background in Oslo, Norway, in a situation that could represent the building facades, was approximated from reported fuel combustion, emission factors, air concentrations since 1960, and dry deposition velocities. The annual accumulated dry depos...

Low-risk removal of embedded surface soiling on delicate heritage objects can require novel alternatives to traditional cleaning systems. Edvard Munch’s monumental Aula paintings (1911–16) have a long history of exposure to atmospheric pollution and cleaning campaigns that have compromised the appearance and the condition of these important artwork...

The atmospheric corrosion due to pure amines emitted from carbon capture plants was investigated. Amine exposure was found to initially inhibit the corrosion of steel, by its film formation and alkalinity, but reduce corrosion product layers and lead to freezing point depression, which could in turn increase the corrosion. Very high amine doses wer...

This work reports marginal damage costs to façades due to air pollution exposure estimated “bottom up,” for Norway and Oslo (Norway) by the use of exposure response functions (ERFs) and impact pathway analysis from the emission to the deteriorating impact. The aim of the work was to supply cost estimates that could be compared with reported damage...

Malta is known for its limestone megalithic temples of which many are inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. A variation of this limestone was historically, and until very few years ago, a primary building material in Malta. The temples are subject to various environmental influences which until recently have led to several collapses due in p...

The author wishes to make the following corrections to this paper [...]

This study assesses changes since 1980 in the maintenance cost of the façades of the historical 17th to 19th century buildings of the Oslo Quadrature, Norway, due to atmospheric chemical wear, including the influence of air pollution. Bottom up estimations by exposure–response functions for an SO2 dominated situation reported in the literature for...

The aim of this work was to assess how improvements to the indoor environment could affect the future condition, frequency and costs of major conservation-cleaning campaigns on the monumental paintings (1909–1916) by Edvard Munch, centrally located in the Aula assembly hall of the University of Oslo. A lower soiling rate is expected to reduce the n...

This paper reports estimated maintenance-cleaning costs, cost savings and cleaning interval increases for structural surfaces and windows in Europe obtainable by reducing the air pollution. Methodology and data from the ICP-materials project were used. The average present (2018) cleaning costs for sheltered white painted steel surfaces and modern g...

The wood rot decay of structures and buildings in Norway represents high costs. This paper reports the observed trends for the potential rot decay of Norwegian wood structures in the cities of Oslo and Bergen over the recent 55 years, calculated as the “wood rot climate index” developed by Scheffer, and compares the reports with previous reported v...

Assessment was performed of the air quality related risk to the conservation of cultural heritage objects in one urban and one rural indoor location in Romania, with expected different air quality related conservation challenges: the National military museum in Bucharest and the Tismana monastery in Gorj County. The work was performed within and su...

Small glass substrates were coated with a thin granular lead film by thermal vapour deposition in order to test the feasibility of using lead-coated glass as sensors for detecting the presence of gaseous acetic acid in air. The lead glass samples were exposed to acetic acid in increasing concentrations, at a controlled temperature of 23oC and 54% r...

The removal of soot and dirt from unvarnished paint is one of the most common issues facing painting conservators. This PhD study (2017-2020) aims to assess a tailored selection of novel surface cleaning techniques for Edvard Munch's unvarnished oil paintings in the Aula of the University of Oslo (1909-16). The cleaning research will be carried out...

The purpose of the reported research was to estimate maintenance costs, cost savings and lifetime increases for outdoor material surfaces in Europe, obtainable by reducing air pollution. Data and methodology from the ICP-materials project were used. The results suggest that for material surfaces exposed outdoor in Europe, a hypothetical 50% reducti...

Results from the international cooperative programme on effects on materials including historic and cultural monuments are presented from the period 1987–2014 and include pollution data (SO2, NO2, O3, HNO3 and PM10), corrosion data (carbon steel, weathering steel, zinc, copper, aluminium and limestone) and data on the soiling of modern glass for ni...

Conservation-restoration costs due to air pollution weathering of limestone façades in the city of Krakow, Poland, were assessed. For the air pollution situation in 2013-15, and for suggested weathering rate targets for 2020 and 2050, representing two and two point five times the rural background corrosion, the costs due to air pollution were found...

Air pollution is one of the environmental influences that degrade cultural heritage objects situated indoors. Other essential influences, such as temperature, relative humidity, and light are often well monitored. The presence of air pollutants is less often measured or included in risk assessment. The MEMORI® technology presented in this paper was...

Activated carbon adsorbing materials were installed in a number of showcases with heritage objects belonging to English Heritage. The reduction of acetic plus formic acid concentration in air, which could be achieved by the installation of the different adsorbing materials, was investigated. The concentrations of the gases were measured before and...

A modelling tool was developed, as a tutorial and for research purposes, to predict the future condition, lifetime, and time before repeated conservation intervention for cultural heritage objects, depending on their historical condition, present conservation and changes in the environment. Model application was illustrated for a locomotive exposed...

The aim of this paper is to describe how atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to assess damage in parchment at the collagen fibril level on exposure to relative humidity (RH) fluctuations at a given temperature, and to pollutants. A method was developed for quantification of AFM images and data were found to correlate with shrinkage temperat...

The protection of paintings and other objects in collections is a major concern for museum administrators, conservators and national authorities. Artwork may get damaged by accumulation of air pollutants inside protective enclosures due to emissions of volatile and semi-volatile compounds from the exposed objects or from the enclosure itself. Relat...

The MEMORI project (Grant agreement 265132) was performed in the period 2010-2013. The project was coordinated by NILU-Norwegian Institute for Air Research and included 14 partners, four subcontractors and an advisory end-user group with 8 members. MEMORI aimed at providing the conservation market with innovative, non-destructive, and early warning...

Climate change involves changes in temperature and precipitation and is also affecting atmospheric chemistry and composition. These changes affect the atmospheric degradation, usually termed "atmospheric corrosion", of material surfaces including building faÇades. Climate change, including the increase in carbon dioxide concentration, has been foun...

This paper investigates the effects of inorganic (NO(2) and O(3)) and volatile organic acid (acetic acid) pollutants on the degradation of dammar varnish in museum environments. Model paint varnish samples based on dammar resin were investigated by Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) and Atomic Force Micr...

Results are presented from measurement and modelling of pollutant gases inside and outside of 11 enclosures used to protect exhibition objects in 10 European museums. Monthly average values for the concentration of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, formic and acetic acid, temperature and relative humidity inside each enclosure, and yearly average values for...

The EU FP7 project MEMORI ("Measurement, Effect Assessment and Mitigation of Pollutant Impact on Movable Cultural Assets. Innovative Research for Market Transfer"- MEMORI, Grant Agreement No. 265132) works to supply the conservation market with a new innovative measurement technology for indoor assessment of air quality in cultural heritage buildin...

The physico-chemical characterisation of organic-based cultural heritage materials has been performed in several EU projects to establish markers of damage [1], [2]. The work reported here refers to the evaluation and assessment of varnished surfaces, collagen-based materials (parchment and leather), and cellulose-based materials (19th century canv...

The brown carpet beetle Attagenus smirnovi, Zhantiev 1973 (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) is an important pest of objects of organic origin in museums of cultural and natural history in Europe. Future climate changes are expected to lead to increasing temperatures, which will affect the pest status of this species. In the present study a laboratory inves...

An overview is given of all results from the International Co-operative Programme on Effects on Materials including Historic and Cultural Monuments (ICP Materials), which was launched in 1985. Since then, about twenty different materials have been exposed repeatedly in a network of test sites consisting of more than twenty sites with an extensive e...

This paper presents preliminary studies and work in progress in the framework of two FP7 projects: MEMORI (Measurement, Effect Assessment and Mitigation of Pollutant Impact on Movable Cultural Assets – Innovative Research for Market Transfer) and NANOFORART (Nano-materials for the conservation and preservation of movable and immovable artworks). On...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to compare indicative expected changes in maintenance costs due to changes in corrosion of building facades caused by climate change or by possible reduction of air pollution, in Norway and Europe. Design/methodology/approach – Available climate and pollution dose-corrosion response functions from the literatu...

Modeling of the transport (fluxes) of gaseous air pollutants to the surfaces of paintings installed inside six different microclimate frames (mc-frames) was performed. Mc-frames are used to protect paintings against the external environment and to provide climate buffering. However, some can trap potentially harmful gases, especially acetic acid, w...

Concentrations of NO2, O3, SO2, acetic and formic acids, HNO3 and NH3 were measured inside and outside a historical building, the Baroque Library Hall (BLH) in the National Library in Prague (Czech Republic). The naturally ventilated system of the building, the restriction of personnel access, reduced groups of visitors and absence of activities wh...

Pollutants and their potential degradation of paintings have been measured for the first time in microclimate frames (mc-frames), which are used to protect paintings. The pollutants that were measured include both inorganic pollutants, which originate mainly from external sources, and organic pollutants from mainly internal sources. Those originati...

The content of this report is based on the results achieved during the EU funded project “Improved Protection of Paintings during Exhibition, Storage and Transit” – PROPAINT.The PROPAINT project (SSPI – 044254) is a Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP)within the Thematic Area 8.1. Policy Oriented Research: Scientific Support to Policies, in...

Climate change has only recently begun to be considered as a relevant factor threatening built heritage, archaeological sites and cultural landscapes, and is now attracting interest both at research and policy levels. The Atlas of Climate Change Impact on European Cultural Heritage fills the existing gap in studies on the effects of future climate...

Recent studies have shown that indoor environment inmuseums can pose a risk to cultural heritage objectsdue to adverse effects. Cur rent practice is movingtowards protection of artwor ks such as paintings byplacing them into microclimate fr ames (mc-frames).However, little is known about the effects of enclosingpaintings in such a way. Pollutants c...

Since its development, the Early Warning dosimeter forOrganic materials (EWO dosimeter) has been used as botha research and general measurement tool for the evaluationof indoor air quality for preser vation of cultural heritageartefacts. The EWO dosimeter measures the integrateddegradation impact of the environment, comparable to thatobserved on or...

The derivation of a model to evaluate the potential impactof gaseous pollutants on paintings installed in microclimateframes (mc-frames), and some examples of modellingresults, is presented. The model can be used to study howbasic design properties of microclimate frames, such astheir air exchange rate, their volume and/or the inclusion ofabsorbers...

This chapter looks at ways that the techniques and procedures described in the previous chapters can serve as tools for owners and managers including local authorities responsible for objects of cultural heritage. All of them have their benefits and usually a combined use of some of them can be an efficient tool in the efforts of reducing the risk...

Chapter one discussed the role of air pollution in damaging our cultural heritage and showed that, in general, emissions have reduced but also that the pollution is changing in its nature with the evolution of a new pollutant environment. The dominance of SO2 pollution has fallen and traffic derived pollutants have increased, creating a new multi-p...

1 Introduction The use of microclimate frames for paintings during exhibition, storage and transport has become common in many European museums. The frames are used to protect the paintings physically, against externally generated pollutants and to give climate buffering. The positive effects are considered to outweigh the negative effects of a...

Surface deposition velocities of O3, NO2 and SO2 were measured in chamber experiments at relative air humidity ranging from 0% to 90% and obtained from literature screening, for a range of material surfaces typically found indoors. The data were compiled in tables comprising 24 material classes and five values of relative air humidity for each gas....

Measurements of the dry deposition velocity of O3 to material samples of calcareous stone, concrete and wood at varying humidity of the air, were performed in a deposition chamber. Equilibrium surface deposition velocities were found for various humidity values by fitting a model to the time-dependent deposition data. A deposition velocity-humidity...

A range of models were fitted to the experimental time-dependent curves for the deposition velocity of O3 to concrete floor tile samples. The models included modified Langmuir isotherms assuming adsorption of O3 on the material surfaces and models assuming direct reaction on and diffusion of O3 into the material from the air. The best fit was obtai...

Cited By (since 1996):40 , Export Date: 12 November 2013 , Source: Scopus , The following values have no corresponding Zotero field: Author Address: Norwegian Institute for Air Research, P.O. Box 100, NO-2027 Kjeller, Norway Author Address: School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom

Tests of the dry deposition of ozone to the surfaces of a concrete floor tile and an activated carbon cloth (ACC) sample were performed in a deposition chamber. The time-dependent deposition of ozone to the material surfaces was modelled with an adsorption, desorption, reaction model. This made it possible to find deposition velocities at equilibri...

Electrodeposited NiSx alloys have been studied using electrochemical techniques, SEM with EDX, XRD and TEM with electron diffraction. The results show that maximum catalytic activity towards the hydrogen reaction is obtained with alloys containing between 25 and % S. The catalytic activity decreases extensively on either side of the catalytic maxim...