STORM TRACK: March 31, 1983 (Volume 6 Issue 3)

(Here are some excerpts from an article by Mr. Homrighausen of the Black and White Photo Club in Fort Worth, Texas, volunteered to Storm Track by Professor Richard Peterson)

"Perhaps you, like me, have been reading articles periodically about the possible harmful effects of storing slides in vinyl pages that contain polyvinylchloride (PVC)."

(An article from Modern Photography addresses this subject in more detail, from "Keppler's SLR notebook." - "Almost, all pages now in use are made of polyvinylchloride, or PVC as it is abbreviated. Of it Kodak says: 'Also detrimental (to photographs) are nitrated and formaldehyde-based plastics, polyvinylchloride, and acrylics, including acrylic lacquer and acrylic enamael. These materials contain plasticizers, solvents and residual catalysts which volatilize. Damage to photographs is greatest when they are in direct contact with these materials, but damage also occurs when the volatile elements contaminate the air in the immediate vicinity or in enclosed containers. ... While I do not believe for an instant that all PVC pages will harm all slides ... It can and does happen. It would appear that the plasticizer in PVC, which contributes to the pages' flexibility, has a tendency to leach out, particularly with humidity, and can damage the slides. ... Fortunately there are viable alternatives to flexible PVC ... Vue-all polyethylene pages are far less expensive than any of their competitors. For samples and further information, write RNI Photo Marketing, P.O. Drawer 638, Ocala, Florida 32678. ... The new Vue-all polyethylene pages will be holding my future slides ... And I keep a dehumidifier going all during the humid summer days. Humidity can ruin slides, filed or not! By the way, the Vue-all pages are far thinner than any others, are thus more compact and can even be folded for mailing into a No. 10 envelope - if you tape the envelop shut. ... How can you tell whether the storage pages you now are using are of PVC? Almost all flexible heavy plastic pages are so made. Also those advertised as vinyl pages."

Recently, "I had occasion to pull out and project several of my old slides that have been in the 20th Century Plastics vinyl pages for a number of years. I can hereby state that without question several of my slides are damaged. Not all show ill effects, but some are definitely not in the condition of original storage. It's difficult to describe, but they have a slight mottled, splotchy, hazy effect that is noticeable when projected and can even be seen upon close examination when held up to the light. Needless to say, I immediately removed all slides from the vinyl pages."