Microbial pollution assessment of storage environment for the ancient Buddhist relics in Tibetan Palace Museum

This paper focuses on studying the microbiological properties of the Tibetan Palace Museum, which is located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and contains a vast collection of cultural heritage artifacts. The air quality of the museum is critical to the preservation of these artifacts, and factors such as microbial species, concentration, and particle size distribution are important indicators of air quality. The paper examines the concentration levels, particle size distribution, species diversity, and correlation between environmental factors and microorganisms in the museum. The study found that the concentration of bacteria was 2–3 times higher than normal, while the concentration of fungi was lower than average. The predominant microorganisms in the museum were Bacillus cereus, Bacillus psychrodurans, and Neurospora terricola. The research also discovered that the concentration of microorganisms was positively correlated with PM2.5 concentration and negatively correlated with temperature, relative humidity, and PM10 concentration. The study concludes that the museum's micro-environment is not ideal for the preservation of ancient books and cultural relics, and more research is necessary to identify the general microbiological traits and eradicate hazardous species in plateau museums.