Information Sheet: Environmental Monitoring

Temperature, humidity, light, pollutants and pests can cause severe damage to museum collections. The first step in preventing this is to find out what the actual levels of these factors are and this is done by monitoring them.

The adverse effects of temperature, light, pollutants, and pests, and why they should be monitored, are explained in separate factsheets: Temperature and Humidity, Air Pollution, The Effects of Storage and Display Materials on Museum Objects, and Light and Conservation. This factsheet details how these risks can be monitored and provides guidance on developing a monitoring program tailored to your museum.