Tweet For the Preservationists - Old Paper with Sour Smell?

This is one for the preservationists. I have a number of British film magazines such as 'Girl's Film' and 'Picture Show' which were printed on a poor quality paper stock, almost a sort of newsprint. Without exception, these magazines give off a very strong, sour odor.

Does anyone know what causes this smell, and most importantly, whether it's the result of some chemical reaction that may endanger other paper items stored with it? The smell is so strong that I already quarantine them from other things as much as I can. I also don't know whether it's a symptom of some process that can be reversed or stabilized.

I have never noticed old paper smelling, but low quality paper, particularly pulp (used in newspaper, comic books and the old "pulp" magazines") is acid and will turn brown and brittle when exposed to air for long enough. Not good for preservation. It's easy enough to slow it down -- burying it below the earthworm level will slow oxidation to just about zero. Keeping pulp paper in air-proof plastic bags will also slow the rate to just about nothing. I am also told that there are even powders that can be added that will reduce the oxidation rate of paper, although it will not reverse the process.

Bob

Quarantining is good. Bagging them with desiccant is good. That it's a strong odor isn't good. I have a couple of bound newspaper months (broadsheet, try to get a bag for a book that size), the fact it's bound seems to contain the damage just to the very edges. They give off only small odors. I had a few boxes of paperbacks which gave off a very strong odor, now that I remember it, sort of a musty smell turned up to 11. Those were stored in a garage. I discarded them as they weren't rare. I don't know that yours have any especially unusual smell being that I can't smell it from here, but unusual smells are something to be wary of.

If Nicholson Baker is ever around your part of the world, jam one of your Girl's Film issues under his nose and ask, "You ever smell anything like that?"

I figured it was some sort of acidity issue. It's quite a sharp, chemical smell, not like mustiness. Other than the scent, they are in pretty good condition - minimal browning or foxing, and not at all brittle. Binding does seem to help, as I inherited a bound volume of 'Boys Cinema' papers of a similar vintage, and the odor isn't there. Packing with dessicant and airproofing them sound like a good idea.

I figured it was some sort of acidity issue. It's quite a sharp, chemical smell, not like mustiness. Other than the scent, they are in pretty good condition - minimal browning or foxing, and not at all brittle. Binding does seem to help, as I inherited a bound volume of 'Boys Cinema' papers of a similar vintage, and the odor isn't there. Packing with dessicant and airproofing them sound like a good idea.

It's really the best I can think of, since oxidation is the cause of most of this.

Sounds like these materials are good candidates for scanning into .pdf files or something similar. From what I understand, this sort of paper will eventually self-destruct and become powder. SETH

I've had them for about ten years and there's been no change in their condition during that time, so I don't think there's too much urgency. In fact, for things that were probably meant to be thrown out after one read, they're in remarkably good condition. Certainly more so than copies of 'Movie Weekly', a much more luxuriously produced magazine, but one which used some very unstable semi-gloss paper stock. They're almost impossible to handle - the edges just crumble and flake away when you touch them.

I deal in old books and paper items. There are many faqs
for getting rid of odors in books. Since you mentioned its
not a musty smell, makes it more difficult. Sunlight kills
mustiness and some mildew, as does ozone. I have an
ozone generator that I enclosed items around that have odors
like mustiness or tobacco odor. I put the item and the
generator inside a non-sealed plastic bag. I'm not sure
if something like that would work because I've never had
an item that gave off a chemical odor.

I figured it was some sort of acidity issue. It's quite a sharp, chemical smell, not like mustiness. Other than the scent, they are in pretty good condition - minimal browning or foxing, and not at all brittle. Binding does seem to help, as I inherited a bound volume of 'Boys Cinema' papers of a similar vintage, and the odor isn't there. Packing with dessicant and airproofing them sound like a good idea.

You might try experimenting by spraying the pages with Book Keeper, which neutalizes acidic paper. It is available through archival supply outlets like Light Impressions. It's not cheap, but if the paper is worth preserving it may offer a solution.