The Effect of Light on the Changes of White Office Paper

Light, primarily its more energy-rich component - near ultraviolet radiation, causes gradual degradation (ageing) of paper and other organic based materials. The objective was to determine selected characteristics of the changes of white office paper, which occur under intensive ultraviolet treatment, and to calculate their light fastness, as this is an important functional feature for the number of papers. The most visible sign of paper ageing is the change of its optical characteristics. The value of specific lightness decreased by 2.2%, red / green coordinate a* moved from the red region (1.5) colour space to green (-0.8), b* coordinate moved from the blue region (-8.4) to yellow (4.7) and colour difference ΔE* reached 13.4 during 120 minutes' exposure. The pH values of paper surface gradually decreased with time of UV exposure from 8.86 to 7.91. Effects of light also deteriorated the selected mechanical characteristics of paper, such as breaking length and tear index. Out of the monitored properties, the specific lightness of paper surface showed the greatest stability (97.8%). UV radiation most affected breaking length of paper whose stability was only 79.4%.