Since the end of the twentieth century, the museum community has been called upon to give further consideration to environmental impact. Two specific environmental issues that have a major impact on Japanese museums are the protection of the ozone layer and global warming.

In response to the issue of ozone layer protection, museums have drastically reconsidered their policies regarding insect repellents and insecticides because since about the late 1970s, Japan had used a mixture of methyl bromide and ethylene oxide for the gas fumigation of cultural properties. However, methyl bromide was regulated as an ozone-depleting substance under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and its production was abolished at the end of 2004. Measures taken by museums against biological damages shifted from what had been a conventional insecticide-centered approach relying on gas fumigants toward an emphasis on preventive measures. In addition to the increased demand for developing and implementing pest control treatments that do not use gas fumigants (see Supplement to Part 1: Environmentally Friendly Pest Control Treatment Facilities at the National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka), an urgent need has arisen to establish collection management strategies based on the concept of Integrated Pest Management (IPM).