Question about mold

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Posted By: leslie westbrook

I just won this card:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280265879509#ebayphotohosting

on Ebay and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for stopping the growth of mold on cards? Is there any kind of solution or chemical that can be safely applied in order to maintain the current integrity of the card? Thanks in advance for any suggestions or tips.

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

I think a diluted solution of bleach would do it. That card is P-F so bleaching it to remove mold is not done to deceive.

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Posted By: leslie westbrook

Thanks for the tip. Exactly how diluted should it be? I don't want to take the color off the card.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

UVC, shortwave ultraviolet light, kills mold on surfaces (where the light touches). I don't know what it would do to the mold inside the card. The blacklight we use for baseball cards is UVA, longwave uv light. UVC is not natural on earth and is dangerous to human eyes and skin, but can't penetrate normal glass or even clothes, so it can be used safetly if one is careful and used it for short durations. It is used to kill anthrax, SARS, bird virus and other very nasty stuff. You can buy a handheld UVC light, as they are used to clean air, science labs, etc. Just use it carefully.

For those who use a blacklight and have had their pants scared off, the UVA blacklight normally talked about on this board is safe, safer than sunlight. UVA and UVC are different frequencies, with blacklight being just a bit outside of visible light. In fact, many birds, which have have a different range of light sensors in their eyeballs, see blacklight.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Leave the card in its mold-encrusted form. Should you experience mild infection, perhaps you could save money on penicillin by simply ingesting the card. Just a thought.

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Posted By: leon

Just leave it alone...it's not that bad. I think if you use bleach you are playing with fire.....otherwise I would probably give what David said a try...

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Posted By: T206Collector

...with the missing corner, the staining on that card is the least of your concerns. Leave it alone. If you try to soak that card in anything, my guess is more of that corner will dissolve.



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Posted By: leslie westbrook

I appreciate the responses, but perhaps I should clarify: I'm not wanting to remove the mold staining that is already there. Rather, I want to stop the growth of the mold so that no further damage/staining will be done. I may try the light suggestion if I can find the equipment.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

They deal with it all the time. I believe that there are some commercially available products safe for use with artworks which should also be safe for use with a card.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

I certainly agree that other pre-existing condition issues make the mold rather inconsequential at this point. I'm sure this card will only serve as a filler in your collection until a nicer example comes along, so don't sweat it.

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Posted By: leon

My opinion would be not to worry about the mold spreading either. It took 90 yrs to get there...in 90 more yrs it won't matter to you.....

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I happen to be finishing a short book on ultraviolet light and if anyone is wishing to buy a light, the ultimate check is when the seller lists the wavelength of the light.

Germicidal lights (the ones that kills mold, aka UVC, aka shortwave UV) is 254 nanometers (nm). Germicidal light is used to decontaminate public air, water and sewage, clean air and surfaces in science labs and hospitals, irradiate milk, etc. While one has to take safety precautions with UVS, a positive is when the light is turned off, it's completely gone-- like when you turn off a light in your room, it's dark. This means, unlike toxic chemicals, it's 'green,' with no aftereffects to the environment, ozone, toxic residue down the sink or fumes lingering in the air, etc.

Blacklight (aka UVA, aka longwave, the kind we use to check for fake baseball cards) is normally 380s-390s, but can anywhere from 320 to 400nm.

The wavelenth is sometimes listed in Anstron (A), which is a simple decimal point conversion, as an Angstrom is 1/10th of a nanometer.

1 nanometer = 10 Angstroms
1 Angstrom = 0.1 nanometer

For perspective, the average human hair is 30,000 nanometers thick.

Germicidal light works because 254nm is the wavelength that damages the DNA of mold, viruses, anthrax, flu, etc, sterilizing the individual organisms (they can't have anymore kids).

As earlier noted, the practical shortcoming of germicidal light is that it only works on what it touches. It works sterilizes surfaces, air and water, but can't penetrate many materials. This may be why a light bleach solution may be best for cardboard. Of course, a T206 is thin for cardboard and mildly translucent, so that's where the question comes in. I can tell you that many of those 'ultra clean' science labs use germicidal light in conjuntion with other cleaning methods, due the limits of what light reaches and pentrates.

There is even much shorter ultraviolet light that is used and studied in advanced science. Some space rockets and stations have telescopes that detect very short uv light and astronomers use them to study stars and planets. For example, they can determine what chemicals are in a star due to the wavelengths of the light. They can also determine the age of a star by its light. This study must be done in space, as earth's atmosphere blocks much light. There is lso uv that is so short that it can't penetrate air and can only used on earth in vacuums.

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Posted By: leslie westbrook

Leon, I don't think the mold took 90 years to get there. I am under the impression that this mold is a result of Hurricane Katrina damage, which is why I'm worried that it's still alive and could still spread.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Anders Angstrom really must have felt like a speck on the face of the earth. That's tiny.

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Posted By: Anthony S.

I seem to remember that Rabbit Angstrom was a high school hoops star. Quite amazing when you consider his size disadvantage.

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Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

I wonder how many Angstroms comprise a Spud Webb.

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Posted By: Anthony S.

Well Jodi, I believe the greater concern is that last I checked, my hairs were only about 18,000 angstroms in diameter. I am so screwed.

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Posted By: T206Collector

...is that the mold is not a result of Hurricane Katrina damage, and that was just a marketing ploy. If the card has dried, I would think the mold is not going to be spreading any time soon.

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Posted By: Anthony S.

That was one of Deb's cards. She's discussed this batch of cards on here before. It's a Katrina card.

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Posted By: Debra Johnson

Leslie -- It seems from the comments above that the 'light' idea is the least invasive. I know a bleach solution would surely kill it, but I can verify that additional moisture on these cards can cause surface creases and/or lift portions of the top layer.

I don't know the best thing to do. I mainly just wanted to let you know that since the cards have been in a temperature-controlled environment for seven months now, I've seen no additional growth or damage. Mold spores need moisture to thrive, I think, and the cards have been dry for a long while now. Air conditioning is the 'anti-mold' agent in south Mississippi.

When you take a look at the card, if it's more than you want to take on, just send it on back.

David -- Thanks for the wealth of information. Had no idea light was used to clean items and air. Will the book be available to the general public? Thanks for posting.

Deb

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Posted By: Leslie Westbrook

Given what you said about having seen no additional growth, then I'll probably just leave it as is. I'm looking forward to getting it--and hopefully a few others

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Posted By: Brian T.

As I understand it, mold needs three things to grow...

1- A food source (cardboard works just fine, as does the paper facing on drywall).
2- A source of moisture in order to elevate the moisture level to above 20% of the wood moisture equivalent.
3- Oxygen.

Without all three, mold will not grow.

So, if the source of moisture is eliminated and the card is dried out, mold will not continue to grow. That is not to say that the existing mold will go away, but new molds will not begin to grow. So, if you are only concerned about the card not worsening in condition (by having new growths) simply eliminating the moisture will suffice. In terms of treating the existing mold, I will yield to the other card experts as to what is appropriate.

As an aside, I am not sure how airtight slabs are, but if it is airtight, the slab will eliminate (or limit) the presence of oxygen - that will also curtail new growth.