Ornaments in radiation treatment of cultural heritage: Color and UV–vis spectral changes in irradiated nacres

Cultural heritage objects that are radiation treated in order to stop their biodegradation often contain ornamenting materials that cannot be removed. Radiation may produce unwanted changes to such materials. Nacre is a common ornamenting material so this is an attempt to assess the impact of gamma-radiation on its optical properties. Two types of nacre (yellow and white) were obtained from a museum and subjected to different absorbed doses of Co-60 gamma irradiation under the same conditions. The radiation induced changes of nacres color were investigated with fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS). Colorimetry in CIE Lab space revealed that in both nacres the lightness shifted to darker grey hues at high doses while the color component's (red, green, yellow and blue) behavior depended on the nacre type. Observable changes occurred at doses much above the dose range needed for radiation treatment of cultural heritage objects that are often ornamented with nacre. In UV–vis reflectance spectra of samples irradiated to high doses carbonate radical anion absorption appeared. - Highlights: • Radiation induced changes of nacres color were investigated with FORS. • Nacres darken at high doses while the color component depends on the nacre type. • Observable changes occurred at larger doses than needed for cultural heritage. • For samples irradiated to high doses carbonate radical anion absorption appeared.