Biocleaning of Cultural Heritage Surfaces

摘要

Microbial agents are among the major causes of deterioration of cultural heritage, strongly affecting our global cultural legacy, the stone, glass, wood and other sources used to fabricate millions of artworks and monuments around the world. However, it is not all about rotting and erosion! Microbial action has been harnessed to clean the surfaces of stone sculptures and buildings and frescoes. In particular, the ability and potential of different microorganisms to remove undesired sulphates, nitrates and organic matter have been demonstrated a number of times in the last decade.