Pest control is an important part of the effort to conserve cultural property in museums. Insecticides or repellants may provide efficient and effective prevention or control of pests, however chemical residues not only cause deterioration of cultural property, but also impact on human health and the environment. Therefore, conservators have been replacing chemical treatments with physical methods, such as low temperature, high temperature and inert gas. The objectives of this article are to discuss the effects of conventional chemical control methods, using repellants, fumigants, and insecticides, and physical control methods, such as inert gas, to explore their advantages and disadvantages in the conservation of cultural property and their possible impacts on Western colorants and traditional Chinese pigments.