All kinds of wood and man made wood composites are used for the storage and display of museum objects.Volatile acids from these lumber materials are main concern in the museum environment.To evaluate the properties of these volatile acids from lumber materials commonly used for the storage or display of museum objects,14 lumber boards were tested in airtight spaces,samples were heated at 40℃ to accelerate evaporation,volatile acids were collected using a no power diffusive sampler for four hours,and the collected substances were analyzed semi quantitatively by double gradient ion chromatography.A fast evaluation method was explored and relevant experimental parameters are discussed.The results showed that red oak,camphorwood,treated basswood and treated raminwood have relatively high contents of formic acid and acetic acid.The acetic acid evaporated from these woods is more than 4 mg·m-3·mm-2 per surface unit for 4 hours,and this number of formic acid is higher than 0.5 mg·m-3·mm-2.With the aim of preventing volatile acids from polluting the museum environment,lumber samples covered with aluminum plastic film were also tested.The results of this study indicate that the aluminum plastic film can effectively decrease the volatilization of formic acid and acetic acid from wood.The release of both formic and acetic acids is reduced to less than 0.2 mg·m-3·mm-2 each per surface unit.