
Answer: 200 Years!
The acidic content of a paper is measured on a pH scale of 0 (acidic, very short life expectancy) to 14.0 (alkaline, very long life expectancy). Any paper becomes increasingly acidic as it ages and interacts with the environment.
Acidic papers, with a pH below 7.0, only have a life expectancy of up to 25 years. Once upon a time you could easily see this in the newsprint of your newspaper, which is highly acidic. It starts yellowing and disintegrating after a short while out in the elements.
“Acid free” means that the paper’s pH is 7.0 (neutral) or higher (alkaline). Acid-free papers will last up to 200 years under normal use and storage conditions.
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