Formaldehyde activity on historical glass objects in museum microclimate

Degradation of some cultural heritage monuments has been caused by interaction with the closest environment (micro-climate). Amount of separate compounds is very small and because of it, this fact becomes neglected. Time and temperature can induce their activity finally causing deterioration. In this category organic compounds can be interpreted as one of museum show - case element. This statement has been improved by testing glass objects and their suitable sensors (model glasses). Destructive activity of formaldehyde on historical glasses belonging to the XVIII-th c. objects with totally different compositions has been confirmed by carried out experiments. For historical material which is very limited, sensor glass method has been applied. Sensors are prepared on the base of results of chemical analyses of original glass chemical analyses and melted on laboratory scale (according to historical data). Induced corrosion for sensor supports knowledge about deterioration process in real micro-environmental conditions. The following testing methods were used: scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), optical interferometer (OI), inductively couple plasma (ICP).