Conservation strategies against the corrosion of historical pipe organs

The corrosion of lead-tin organ pipes is a major threat to historical organs in Europe. A strong corrosion factor is the emission of organic acids from the wooden parts in the organ. The main objective of the present work is the creation of conservation strategies for lead based organ pipes. To this aim, the protective efficiency of different surface treatments has been evaluated. The accelerated exposure tests in acetic acid atmosphere reveal that none of the selected treatments guarantees long-term protection. Therefore the best conservation strategy is the preventive approach of changing the environment. An innovative nanotechnology treatment for the deacidification of wood samples has been studied. This method seems indeed to be promising in order to effectively decrease the high levels of acetic acid vapour in the organ environment.