The problem of studying and preserving museum collections made of polymer materials

Polymers have had a significant impact on industrial, household, and cultural aspects of everyday life in the 20th and 21st centuries. They represent advances in technology, as evidenced by the dramatic increase in the number and types of objects used by people from these materials. Polymers have long been included in various museum collections, characterizing changes in our daily lives and society's attitude to new materials and technologies. Polymers are increasingly being used to create works of art. While museums continue to acquire objects reflecting everyday life and historical context, in some cases the proportion of polymers in collections will increase. The service life of polymers is short compared to traditional materials presented in museums, and they wear out during the first decades after purchase. The destruction and conservation of polymer objects in museums has been officially recognized as an area worthy of study only since the early 90s of the last century, however, despite its novelty, polymer conservation is a rapidly developing field. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in modern objects, exhibits, historical and cultural monuments made of polymer materials, both in terms of identification and to determine their condition, the need for conservation and restoration. The proposed article discusses the general issues of identification and preservation of polymer materials in the museum environment and the problems that arise. The main properties of polymers are described, which determine how and why this class of materials has found its widespread use and what its fate is in museum collections. The article is the first part of a thematic review, which includes a description of polymers in the museum space and thematic collections, their definition, signs of decomposition and causes of degradation.