Doug,

Oak is the most acidic wood that we use. The damage to shells comes from
the acidic chemicals that offgas from oak. Combine these with moisture
(high humidity) and you have a nice acidic environment to destroy calcium
carbonate shells. The damage can result from direct contact or just being
exposed to the gasses in a closed drawer. Older wood may to be less
problematic but it is no guarantee of safety. If you want the greatest
margin of safety, don't use an oak cabinet. If you want a reasonable
margin of safety, line the drawers with buffered, acid free paper, keep
the relative humidity of the room around 45-50%, and keep the temperature
low, 60 degrees F would be nice (most people would find this too cold), 70
degrees F should be ok. Remember, chemical reactions occur faster at
higher temperatures, thus the lower the temperature, the slower the
process of Bynesian Decay.

You can also change the microenvironment of the shells. If you have mostly
small shells, put them in ziplock bags. this helps to mitigate the bad
effects of the outside environment.

The topic is addressed in Chapter 5: Archival and Curatorial Methods in
The Mollusks: A Guide to Their Study, Collection, and Preservation,
published by the American Malacological Society.

http://www.malacological.org/publications/molluskguide.html

These shameless plug is that I was an editor of the book and author of
Chapter 5 :-)

Hope this was helpfull.

Regards,
Charlie
.................................................
Research Associate - Section of Mollusks
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Assistant Professor - Family Medicine

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