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Pesticide Contamination and Archaeological Collections: Contextual Information for Preparing a Pesticide History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 August 2019

Nancy Odegaard Open the ORCID record for Nancy Odegaard [Opens in a new window]
Nancy Odegaard*
Affiliation:
Arizona State Museum, School of Anthropology, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, American Indian Studies GIDP, and Heritage Conservation Graduate Certificate Program, University of Arizona, 1013 E. University Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
*
(corresponding author, odegaard@email.arizona.edu)
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Abstract

The issue of pesticide-contaminated archaeological collections has generated concern among staff in collecting institutions. Pesticides have long been used, but the awareness of their unseen persistence and their potential as a human health hazard is a new aspect of preventive conservation. Background information and guidelines for developing a pesticide history are provided for repositories, museums, cultural resource management companies in the private and public sectors, academia, and other public collections.

El problema de las colecciones arqueológicas contaminadas con pesticidas ha generado preocupación entre el personal de las instituciones de recolección. Durante mucho tiempo los pesticidas se han utilizado, pero la conciencia de su persistencia invisible y su potencial como un peligro para la salud humana es un aspecto nuevo de la conservación preventiva. Se proporciona información de antecedentes y pautas para desarrollar un historial de pesticidas para depósitos, museos y empresas de gestión de recursos culturales en el sector privado y público, la academia y otras colecciones públicas.

Keywords

pesticide contaminationpesticide historyarchaeological collectionsNAGPRAcontaminaciónpesticidascolecciones arqueológicasNAGPRA
Type
How to Series
Information
Advances in Archaeological Practice , Volume 7 , Special Issue 3: Archaeological Collections Care: Current Topics and Innovative Trends in the Repository , August 2019 , pp. 292 - 301
Copyright
Copyright 2019 © Society for American Archaeology 

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References

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