Forty-eight types of mold are attacking China's 2,000-year-old Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, reported Wednesday's Beijing Morning Post. Belgian scientists have suggested that if the molds are not destroyed the ancient relics are doomed.

 

The museum housing the relics set up a microbe lab with Janssen Pharmaceutical Belgium in 2001 to halt the mold growth that has damaged the surface of the figures and resulted in color changes. The mold is also said to be nibbling away at the inner material of the figures and that this could lead to irreparable damage.

 

The temperature changes caused by millions of visitors a year are thought to be the reason behind the mold problem.

 

The museum is now extending its cooperation with Janssen of Belgium and Xi'an-Janssen Pharmaceutical Ltd with an agreement being signed on Tuesday to set up a cultural relic protection and research center. Finding effective measures to kill the molds is the top priority.  

 

The Terra-cotta Warriors were found in the tomb of Yingzheng, the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), outside the city of Xi'an in the 1970s by farmers digging a well.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2006)