A biologist from the University of Colorado at Denver is using a $7,000 federal grant in hopes of developing a method to clean up contaminated artifacts.

Timberley Roane, a member of the Lumbee Tribe, believes bacterias can be used to remove toxic chemicals from items. She got the idea from a Navajo friend and is using techniques she learned from working at industrial sites to conduct her research.

Museums sprayed arsenic, mercury and other poisons on tribal artifacts to preserve them. The chemicals pose dangers because the items are being repatriated.

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Saving artifacts from toxic isolation (The Denver Post 12/12)