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Optical sensors developed from dye-doped coatings obtained through the sol-gel method were designed and produced to evaluate air acidity. Both laboratory calibration and field test measurements in several locales of downtown Cracow, Poland, were undertaken with the aim of assessing the sensors' behavior. As a first approach, SO2 was considered as the main gaseous pollutant with acid properties capable of sensitizing the sensors under humid conditions. A relationship between the SO2 concentration measured by conventional automatic air pollution monitoring stations and the optical response of the sensors was established. To correlate such a relationship with the air acidity, a simple calculation, which also takes into account relative humidity, temperature, and atmospheric pressure, was done. Following this calculation, the sensors' detection threshold for pH was found to be 0.05, approximately. The sensors can be a very useful analytical tool to alert against acid rain risks in preventive conservation of historical materials, among other applications.

Conservation of historic artifacts has been a multidisciplinary field from its very beginning. Traditionally, it has been and still is associated with the history of art. It applies knowledge from technical and basic sciences, adapting their solutions to its goals. At present, however, a new tendency is clearly emerging—scientific research is starting to play an increasingly important role not only as a service, but also by proposing new solutions both in the traditional conservation areas and in new areas of conservation activities. The above trend opens up new perspectives for the field of preservation of our heritage but may also create new threats. Therefore, the conservators' caution in introducing new technologies should always be justified; after all, they are responsible for the effects of any activities on the historic objects. This, quite selective review, discusses application of mass spectrometry techniques for the detection of various components that are important to the conservators of our heritage with particular focus on paintings. The text also contains some basic knowledge of technical details to introduce the methodology to a broader group of professionals.

Grodziec collection of stained glass panels consists of fourteen objects depicting figures of saints. Probably they belong to one, uniform set from the one of Lower Silesia churches. Recently eight of them, already after conservatory treatment, are exhibited in Jagiellonian University Museum of Collegium Maius in Krakow, while remaining six, which will be restored in nearest future, are stored in the National Museum in Wroclaw.This paper presents the results of the investigation of composition and corrosion products of glass from three panels of Wroclaw group. Since comparative analysis of historic glass composition is vital for its dating, to obtain the possibly full set of composition data with particular stress on light elements identification, the multi technique approach was necessary. The physicochemical analysis was carried out by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), micro-Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM/EDX). The study revealed that some of stained glasses have composition characteristic of northern medieval glass (potash-lime-silicate) while other pieces could be dated on 16 th or 19 th century.This confirms the suggestion from the former historic and scientific investigation of Krakow's set that the Wroclaw panels may be of the same medieval origin as the Krakow's ones and that they were already restored, at least in 19 th c.The possibility of working on the whole set of panels from the Grodziec collection opens up the opportunity for conducting exceptional scientific study which will lead to the definitive designation of the provenance of this important collection, its history and age.