Lavender essential oil for a contactless application for contemporary art conservation: a case study

The present work consists of an applied study on the use of lavender essential oil for the biocidal treatment of a contemporary art manufact conserved and exhibited at the Plart Museum of Plastic Arts and Design in Naples (Italy). The study consists in the proceeding of the previous in vitro trial on fungal species isolated from a contemporary artifact, in which the sensitivity of the microbial consortium to fumigation treatment by exposure to the vapor phase of the essential oil was demonstrated. The aim of this work is to compare the effectiveness of the intervention on the case study by evaluating the long-term antifungal performance of the essential oil and a commercial standard biocide based on benzalkonium chloride. The organic components of the artwork were chemically characterized using Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to assess the potential biodegradability of the different materials composing the object. Microbiological monitoring was conducted post-treatment after 1–5 months (using a bioluminometer) and after 4–8 months through new isolation. The results demonstrate that not only is the biocidal effectiveness of the fumigation treatment comparable to that of the commercial product, but it also surpasses it in terms of inhibition percentage and long-term durability.