PARTICLE POLLUTION AND THE ROLE OF ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS FOR THE PREVENTIVE CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

CHAPARRO, MARCOS A. E.; DÉBORA C. MARIÉ; BUITRAGO-POSADA, DANIELA; WINKLER, ALDO; MARCOS TASCON ; LISA GRIFONI; MARTINA SCOCCIMARRO; FEDERICO CHERNY; FERNANDO MARTE; L. PENSABENE BUEMI; FRANCESCA BOLDRIGHINI; A. RUSSO; GABRIELLA STRANO; LUIGI A. DI LELLA; LILLA SPAGNUOLO; STEFANO LOPPI; ANTONIO SGAMELLOTTI

Malargüe

Congreso; Encuentro del Centro Internacional de Ciencias de la Tierra (E-ICES 18); 2023

Centro Internacional de Ciencias de la Tierra

Anthropogenic particle pollution is an increasing concernin urban contexts because it may adversely influence citizens´ culturalheritage (CH), such as museums,archaeological sites, and historic buildings. Among adverse consequences of particulate matter (PM) on CH institutions,it may act on the surfaces, creating dark layers, abrasion ofmaterials, depletion, discoloration, and consequent artistic loss. The latter has recently been studied using magnetic biomonitoring in various Italian institutions and urbanarchaeological sites, including Villa Farnesina in Rome, the Peggy GuggenheimCollection in Venice, and the Palatino Hill of Parco Archeologico del Colosseo.We present here the first magnetic biomonitoring study in Argentina focused onthe preventive conservation of the collections preserved at the Museo Nacionalde Bellas Artes (MNBA) and the Museo Histórico Nacional (MHN) in Buenos Aires. Thalliof lichen species (Parmotrema pilosum)were collected at remote sites and transplanted to indoor and outdoor sites forthree months. In addition, for biomonitoring purposes, leaves from urban trees(Jacaranda mimosifolia and Fraxinus excelsior) were collected atincreasing distances from MNBA and MHN, respectively. The magnetic propertiesof lichens and leaves were determined insitu and at the laboratory through the following measurements: magneticsusceptibility, anhysteretic, and isothermal remanent magnetization. Lichentransplants evidenced lower magnetic concentration and finer grain size oftrapped airborne magnetic particles (AMP) for indoor (AMP content = 20-140 μg)than outdoor (AMP content = 160-590 μg) sites, where magnetite-like mineralsdominate (remanent coercivity Hcr = 34.3-37.7 mT). Higher values ofmass-specific magnetic susceptibility χ were obtained for tree leaves of J. mimosifolia (χ = 13.1-50.4 ×10-8m3kg-1)than F. excelsior (χ = 0.6-7.5 ×10-8m3kg-1).Further magnetic analyses are ongoing on Evernia prunastri lichen transplants. Moreover, elemental analysis of lichens and leaves will beconducted by ICP-MS to expand the information regarding the origin and impactof the pollution.