Translations:Het veiligstellen van films en bijhorende magneetbanden die zijn aangetast door het azijnsyndroom bij Opera Ballet Vlaanderen/6/en

PACKED vzw therefore suspected that this film stock had been affected by vinegar syndrome. Vinegar syndrome is a deterioration process that can affect films, magnetic tapes and photographic negatives/slides with an acetate base. The decay is autocatalytic, which means the deterioration starts slowly (because there’s still only a small amount of the acid that causes it), but quickly accelerates as the chemical reaction continues. The autocatalytic point is the moment when the reaction starts to accelerate exponentially. The base layer of the acetate film or magnetic tape acidifies, which emits a vinegar-like odour and the material becomes brittle and starts to shrink. A high temperature and fluctuating but relatively high level of humidity in the storage environment speed this process up further. If a vinegar-like odour is detected, the film or magnetic tape is already in an advanced state of decay. The deterioration process starts much earlier, however, and can only be detected in its early stages with the use of e.g. A-D strips (see below).