Salvaging Modern Negatives Damaged by Storage Near Deteriorating Nitrate Negatives

[j._gewirtz]

A couple of years ago I scanned some old 35mm nitrate B&W negatives and then foolishly put the negative strips

into Print File pages. I stored these Print Files in a loose-leaf binder together with other 35mm Print Files

containing old (1940s/1950s) acetate B&W negatives, modern (1970s to recent) B&W negatives, and one sheet of C-41

negatives from 1994.

 

Today I happened to open the loose-leaf binder and found that the nitrate negatives have self-destructed. They

have bubbled and cracked in their file sleeves, most of the emulsion is gone and what's left is stained brown.

There is a strong vinegar-like odor and many powdery, light-colored deposits both inside and outside of the Print

File sleeves. Some of the non-nitrate negatives are damaged as well, with faded emulsion in the areas that were

closest to the nitrate negatives. (The worst-off of these are the 1940s/1950s acetate negatives that were stored

immediately next to the nitrate negatives, but the modern B&W and C-41 negatives have some damage as well.)

 

I assume that nothing can be done for the nitrate negatives. However, I would appreciate any suggestions on how

to minimize further deterioration of the other negatives. Should I simply rewash the modern B&W and C-41 films,

or is special chemical treatment necessary to stabilize them? Can I treat the old acetate B&W films in the same

way as the modern B&W films, or do the old films require special handling?

 

Thanks for any assistance.

[john_shriver]

Here's a good page to start at:

 

http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/messier/negrmcc.html

 

The acid odor is Nitric Acid. Bad stuff, it's eating the silver out of your acetate negatives.

 

Probably re-washing them is in order.