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Books could be sent through medical device gamma radiation conveyer belts to kill off the bugs. Eg the Institute of Isotopes in Budapest or the BGS facility in

Books could be sent through medical device gamma radiation conveyer belts to kill off the bugs. Eg the Institute of Isotopes in Budapest or the BGS facility in Germany for higher volume.

perihelions 1y ago
Is that validated for books? Old paper is chemically and mechanically fragile; it's not obvious that gamma/ionizing radiation is harmless to it. Ultraviolet light is well known to be damaging, https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/preservation-leaflets/2.-the-environment/2.4-protection-from-light-damage https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/preservation-leaflets/2... ("Protection from Light Damage") https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/light.html https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/light.html ("Limiting Light Damage") [late edit]: And if you search the literature, gamma irradiation is known to affect the texture of certain fruits—and if you ask why, one of the studied mechanisms is that fruits' cellulose polymers—which paper is also made of!—are easily broken by gamma rays: https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.1957.1202611403 https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.1957.12026114... ("Effect of gamma-radiation on cellulose" (1957)) > "Cellulose is degraded at gamma-radiation dosages equal to or below those required for softening plant tissues such as apples, carrots, and beets. Therefore it seems probable that the degradation of this cell wall constituent is a major factor in the radiation-induced softening of plant tissues." The effect on thin, old paper should presumably be the worst, no? [edit]: And this paper says the lethal gamma dose for one species (different one) of pestilential beetle is 1,000 gray, or 100 krad. That's a bit higher than the threshold doses for cellulose damage, from the other paper: 34–64 krad. Stressing that I have no clue know how those numbers translate to paper integrity. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-43739-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-43739-x ("The lethal and sterile doses of gamma radiation on the museums pest, varied carpet beetle, Anthrenus verbasci (Coleoptera: Dermestidae))
- mousethatroared 1y ago
  You're right but, usually, life is more fragile than chemistry for no other reason that life is built on chemistry. There are animals with exceptional capacity to survive radiation, but they accomplish this by redundancy and quick repair. So it comes down to picking the dose that doesn't kill your but does kills what would other wise kill you... radiation cancer therapy.
  - thaumasiotes 1y ago
    Well, the plan is to suffocate the books, which can hurt the beetles (since they're alive) but can't do anything to the books (since they aren't). The only obvious advantage of irradiating them would be that it will kill eggs; if the eggs will still hatch in an oxygen-free environment, there's no advantage and plenty of downside.
    - mousethatroared 1y ago
      Big if. Insect eggs are very often meant to withstand long periods of dormancy. Anyway, I wouldn't suggest irradiating them either. Just the volume of required handling would ruin them.
      - thaumasiotes 1y ago
        Yes and no. On the fundamentals, environments never really become oxygen-free, and so it would be unexpected for beetles to have an adaptation to the scenario. You could have an environment that was consistently oxygen-free, but it would make no sense for eggs laid in such an environment to refuse to hatch there.
        mensetmanusman 1y ago
        Bacterial spores do, so some bugs do for some reason. Probably because of the small % chance variation in the atmosphere. Life is incredibly robust.
tguvot 1y ago
or to fumigate entire building

Books could be sent through medical device gamma radiation conveyer belts to kill off the bugs. Eg the Institute of Isotopes in Budapest or the BGS facility in Germany for higher volume.

perihelions 1y ago

Is that validated for books? Old paper is chemically and mechanically fragile; it's not obvious that gamma/ionizing radiation is harmless to it. Ultraviolet light is well known to be damaging, https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/preservation-leaflets/2.-the-environment/2.4-protection-from-light-damage https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/preservation-leaflets/2... ("Protection from Light Damage") https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/light.html https://www.loc.gov/preservation/care/light.html ("Limiting Light Damage") [late edit]: And if you search the literature, gamma irradiation is known to affect the texture of certain fruits—and if you ask why, one of the studied mechanisms is that fruits' cellulose polymers—which paper is also made of!—are easily broken by gamma rays: https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.1957.1202611403 https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.1002/pol.1957.12026114... ("Effect of gamma-radiation on cellulose" (1957)) > "Cellulose is degraded at gamma-radiation dosages equal to or below those required for softening plant tissues such as apples, carrots, and beets. Therefore it seems probable that the degradation of this cell wall constituent is a major factor in the radiation-induced softening of plant tissues." The effect on thin, old paper should presumably be the worst, no? [edit]: And this paper says the lethal gamma dose for one species (different one) of pestilential beetle is 1,000 gray, or 100 krad. That's a bit higher than the threshold doses for cellulose damage, from the other paper: 34–64 krad. Stressing that I have no clue know how those numbers translate to paper integrity. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-43739-x https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-43739-x ("The lethal and sterile doses of gamma radiation on the museums pest, varied carpet beetle, Anthrenus verbasci (Coleoptera: Dermestidae))

mousethatroared 1y ago
You're right but, usually, life is more fragile than chemistry for no other reason that life is built on chemistry. There are animals with exceptional capacity to survive radiation, but they accomplish this by redundancy and quick repair. So it comes down to picking the dose that doesn't kill your but does kills what would other wise kill you... radiation cancer therapy.
- thaumasiotes 1y ago
  Well, the plan is to suffocate the books, which can hurt the beetles (since they're alive) but can't do anything to the books (since they aren't). The only obvious advantage of irradiating them would be that it will kill eggs; if the eggs will still hatch in an oxygen-free environment, there's no advantage and plenty of downside.
  - mousethatroared 1y ago
    Big if. Insect eggs are very often meant to withstand long periods of dormancy. Anyway, I wouldn't suggest irradiating them either. Just the volume of required handling would ruin them.
    - thaumasiotes 1y ago
      Yes and no. On the fundamentals, environments never really become oxygen-free, and so it would be unexpected for beetles to have an adaptation to the scenario. You could have an environment that was consistently oxygen-free, but it would make no sense for eggs laid in such an environment to refuse to hatch there.
      - mensetmanusman 1y ago
        Bacterial spores do, so some bugs do for some reason. Probably because of the small % chance variation in the atmosphere. Life is incredibly robust.

tguvot 1y ago

or to fumigate entire building