Tjaša Rijavec, PhD student at the Heritage Science Lab Ljubljana, recently presented her research at the Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI). The CCI is a Canadian governmental institute and one of the globally leading institutions researching and advising on conservation of cultural heritage.
Tjaša presented her findings on poly(vinyl chloride) objects in heritage collections both as part of her PhD research and as part of the PVCare project. She presented some of the key conclusions from her degradation studies aiming at delivering evidence-based conservation guidance for this complex material. An interesting discussion developed with CCI scientists and conservators about the prevalence of PVC and the conservation challenges it presents demonstrating the urgent need to develop accessible approaches to identify polymers in collections and to implement polymer-specific measures in museum collections.
