Characterization of black crust layers of different sites in Europe and North Africa

The EC TeACH project (Technologies and tools to prioritize assessment and diagnosis of air pollution impact on immovable and movable cultural heritage) sets out to understand the different types of deterioration due to pollution impact on cultural heritage in different European and North Africa sites. The characterization of damage layers was focused on ions by chromatography (IC) and elemental composition by coupled plasma-optical emission and mass spectrometer (ICP-OES, ICP-MS). The obtained data were analyzed applying Pearson’s correlation to understand the origin of the ions and elements detected in the black crusts. In all cases, SOx and NOx have the priority role in damage layer formation. The impact in surface deterioration of local pollutant sources, e.g. past restoration treatments in Florence Cathedral, coal combustion and emission from railway transport in case of Cologne Cathedral, marine aerosol deposition, in the cases of the coastal sites of Salè and Oslo, are also observed.