A lecture on the system of using one of the crystallization inhibitors “sodium ferrosanide” to remove salts off the stones

‘The Sharjah Archaeology Authority (SAA) organized a seminar entitled “The use of salt crystallization inhibitors – sodium ferrocyanide – to remove salts from rocks”, which was presented remotely through the zoom program by Dr. Yazan Abu al Hassan, specialist in archaeological restoration at Sharjah Archaeology Authority (SAA). The lecturer presented the system of using one of the crystallization inhibitors “sodium ferrosanide” that he used in the Jordanian city of Petra, explaining that the mechanism of salt damage represents a strong and widespread threat to cultural heritage, and talked about the impact of a wide range of surrounding environmental conditions, which include complex processes and mechanisms as a result of the dynamic interaction of salts with rocks, and then lead to their damage and collapse. The search for new ways to reduce salt damage to cultural heritage and improve the methods used is an urgent need to protect our cultural heritage, of which the lecturer mentioned the method of using crystallization inhibitors, which represents a practical method to protect the stone from damage and extinction, the lecturer found that the ideal solution to reduce the risk of salts to cultural heritage and protect it from loss and extinction is to introduce a solution of inhibitors in certain concentrations inside stones that contain salts and suffer damage and destruction , which in turn interact with the salts and changes its crystalline form, resulting in it emerging from the inside of the stone and crystallizing on the outside in a fragile, incoherent and easy to remove form without any effect on the stone itself. The lecturer stated that this procedure can be applied to cultural heritage stone, which suffers from the same conditions of damage due to salt.