Hugh's idea of matting out the damage is a good one. Easy, safe, doesn't affect value.
Jo, the peroxides are emitted by non-cellulostic materials in the paper, or contact materials, as they degrade. As a funny story, an air quality specialist was testing the quality of the air in the UBC library. They had been having problems with peroxide and other damage to their microfilm collection. The results showed very high levels of all sorts of pollutants, and he said something to the effect that there must be a paper pulp mill nearby. Nooooooo, the outside air is pretty good at the University. The high pollution levels were caused by all the deteriorating books etc. within the library. Talk about the fifth column!
Conservation treatment for stains can involve bleaches, but lately I've been having good luck with chelating agents like EDTA, which is gentler than bleaching. This supposes the piece can take some water treatment of course.
Trying to treat your own prints might work, something like trying to treat your own physical ailments with out the help and direction of a "health professional". Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Simple conservation procedures can certainly be done by non-conservators. More complicated things like stain reduction is (in my admittedly biased but nevertheless correct opinion
) best left to those who are trained to deal with them. And conservators certainly don't know how to fix everything either. When in doubt, don't.
Rebecca
