Integrated pest management in museums, libraries, archives and private collections is the practice of monitoring and managing pest and environmental information with pest control methods to prevent pest damage to collections and cultural property. Preserving cultural property is the ultimate goal for these institutions. The pests come in many different forms: insects, mites, rodents, bats, birds, and fungi and the two most common types are insects and fungi. It is widely recommended that every museum have some form of pest control in place and monitoring system to protect their collection and that museums review their storage and museum facilities to determine how to best control and prevent pest infestations while utilizing an Integrated Pest Management plan.
Integrated Pest Management components Museum IPM is a sub specialty of Integrated pest management that focuses specifically on the application in museums and cultural institutions. The primary difference between IPM and Museum IPM is that in the context of a museum, the main focus is placed on the protection of collections from pests.
Integrated Pest Management is a ‘holistic’ approach to controlling pests” that seeks to understand what pests are attracted to, their habits, and life cycles. Part of this program is to identify what types of pests are located in the building, establish the museum's short- and long-term goals for their IPM program, and build a consensus amongst the staff. The museum should “consult experts if necessary and choose the most appropriate and safe control methods for (the) eradication” of the pests. It is important not to panic and rush to rash decisions if a few pests are discovered. A museum should be thoughtful and plan out of their steps before taking any action.
Integrated Pest Management requires the museum to allocate time and energy for the implementation and monitoring the progress of their program. An IPM program “will require the coordinated effort of all staff members to properly implement, and may initially be more expensive than traditional pest management”.
Implementation The implementation of integrated pest management should be done in steps. To begin, a museum should review a floor plan of the building and determine all “doors, windows, water and heat sources, and drains”, as well as all furniture and other objects within the museum. The museum can place traps that have been numbered and dated throughout the building using the floor plan as a guide of potential problem areas. The location of the traps should be documented and marked on the floor plan. Once the traps are in place, they should be monitored. Detailed notes should be made on the finding in the traps, which pests are being trapped, how they are accessing the museum, and what do these trapped pests look for in a food source. After the first few months, the trap placement should be refined to insure the best outcome.
Isolation and quarantine of any infested cultural objects Before any new items or objects enter the collection storage area, the contents should be inspected for any signs of insect activity. If an object is found, or even thought to be infested, it should be immediately isolated and put into quarantine. The museum should next look to identify the pest and determine what type of harm the pests can cause. Infested objects should be place into sealed plastic bags before moving them into the collection area. It is important to secure the object and make sure that no other eggs or larvae fall from the object and possibly spread the infestation. The objects around the quarantined object should also be examined to determine the extent of the infestation.
Monitoring and Inspection The museum must monitor all of their pest management programs to ensure they are effective. Routine monitoring will provide information about the points of entry, amount of insects, where they reside in the building, and what they are feeding on. With this information, a museum will be able to identify the damaged areas and what pests are infesting the museum. The staff should be careful in the placement of these traps to ensure that they do not come into contact with objects from the collection. When traps are placed in a new location in the building they should be checked within the first 48 hours. This will help confirm where the problem areas are located and if adjustments need to be made to the trap locations. The next step should be weekly and then monthly inspections. Once the pests have been identified and the best location confirmed, then the traps should be changed every two months, or sooner if they are full or have lost their stickiness.
When the staff conducts their insect monitoring, the staff member “should use a bright flashlight during inspections, looking for live adults and larvae and the presence of shed larval skins or feces”. It is important for the museum staff to continually review all components of the pest management program and determine if adjustments are needed.
Identification and documentation A key component in Integrated Pest Management for museums is the ability to identify the pests causing issues so the museum staff can establish a plan of attack to remove the pest from the building. Traps can be used to identify the pests, the extent of infestation, and determine the source of the infestation. All of the identification information on the pests should be documented to keep track of the pests, points of entry, and potential damage the pest may cause. Having these “records of inspection results...will help identify seasonal risk factors and areas with a high frequency of problems”. The museum should review the data and ask “can we simply remove the pest? are eggs present? what is the least damaging approach to treatment?”. Once a museum have this information written down and confirmed by all those involved in the program, a treatment strategy can be planned and implemented.
Treatment action Traps: Traps are an important part of Integrated Pest Management and they come in different shapes, sizes, and odors. Traps will help to identify the museums pest problem, and should be periodically emptied as the dead pests will attract and be food for other pests. Before any treatment action is executed, it is important to consult the curator, the conservator, and review any history on the object affected. Sticky traps: The most common traps are sticky traps or glue boards. These traps should be placed in high risk areas and will provide the museum’s staff insight into the pests that are infesting the building and “can be used to give information on the pest, an indication of their number and seasonal cycles and where they congregate … (the best place these trap are) … in corners, near doors, vents, fireplaces and other potential entry points for insects”. Sticky traps should be inspected weekly and all findings clearly reported. Pheromone traps: Pheromone traps have natural scents that attract a target pest group. These traps can serve as an effective warning system, and are typically also deployed with/as sticky traps. Currently pheromone traps are only available for “webbing clothes moths, drug store beetles, cigarette beetles, and the German cockroach, but more are being developed”. Light traps: Light Traps emit ultraviolet light to attract moths and flies. Most insects are drawn towards light, but these traps should not be used on their own. Other traps, usually sticky traps, should be installed near light traps to help encourage and trap more pests. Chemical control of museum pests: Pesticides should only be used as a last resort as “pesticides used in museum pest control are generally some of the same products used for household or other structural pest control”. These chemicals can be damaging to the health to the staff and to anyone else that visits the building. Chemicals “can cause acute symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and breathing difficulty”. Chemicals can also cause damage to the museum’s collection such as metal corrosion, deterioration of proteins (fur, feather, leather, and wool), deterioration of paper, stiffening/softening of plastic and change the pigments. Pesticides will do nothing to prevent the infestation, they only kill the pests after the fact, once the damage has already been done. Museum objects should avoid direct treatment, however, if the object requires pesticides to remove pests it should be fumigated. All fumigation should be performed by a professional.
Common pests in cultural property institutions
There are many different type of pests that can affect a museum and its collection. It will be important for the museum staff to identify the pests, as well as understand how they will act and what they will feed on. Insects will cause damage not only through their feeding habits but their tracks, tunnel and nesting habits may also cause damage. Most damage will occur when the insect is in its larva stage – when most of the feeding takes place – though some insects like booklice will continue to damage objects past the larva stage. Rodents can cause further damage through the increased risk of fire when they gnaw on wires. Birds and bats can cause indirect damage to cultural materials and are more disruptive to heritage structures. Aside from being a source of inconvenience around the area through their irritating smell and health risks, their introduction of detritus is more concerning for the cultural materials. As they not only cause soiling but also attracts other pests, mainly insects. Fungi (moulds) are ubiquitous and may colonize organic and inorganic materials exposed to adverse environmental conditions, particularly the presence of nutrients and moisture.
Insects Fabric pests: There are two groups of fabric pests that are common in museums: carpet beetles and clothes moths. These pest eat proteins like wool, fur, feathers, dead animals and horns. These pests are known to burrow into materials such as storage bins or little-used drawers. Wood pests: The most common wood pests are woodboring beetles and dry wood termites. These pests are known to attack and damage objects made of wood and often go undetected on the surface as they burrow into the wood. Stored product pests: The most common stored product pests or pantry pests are the cigarette beetle and the drugstore beetle. These pests are known to infest “seeds, nuts, grains, spices, dried fruits, and vegetables," items which many museums include. Moisture pests: Moisture can be damaging not only to the building but also to the objects in the collection that “may attract a number of moisture-loving pests that can do additional damage”. Mold is damaging on its own but it also attracts pests like Psocoptera to feed on the objects that are affected by mold. It is important for museums to keep their facilities and collection areas free from any dampness and immediately deal with leaks or possible water damage. General pests: General pests are any household pests that enter into a building through windows, doors, cracks, and any other entrance to the museum. These pest include cockroaches, rodents, silverfish, and ants and will cause damage to the museum and their objects. The most common damage occurs from the nesting and feeding behaviors.
Rodents