Abstract Historic glasses can be altered in the presence of inorganic pollutants, such as CO 2 , SO 2, or NO 2 , but also, by the volatile organic compounds emitted by the museum cabinets. Among these pollutants, compounds with carbonyl groups such as acetic and formic acids, and formaldehyde are the most common ones. In this work, a study of the interaction of these contaminants with three of the most relevant historical glasses was carried out. These glasses were soda silicate glass, potash silicate glass, and lead crystal glass. Two alteration tests were carried out in these glasses in the presence of water, acetic acid, formic acid, or formaldehyde. In the first test, the alteration induced by the liquid solution was evaluated by the pH monitoring and the study of the ions lixiviated by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. In the second study, the alteration with gaseous contaminants was carried out. The hygroscopic capacity of the glasses was analyzed by gravimetry, the evolution of the glass surface by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance mode, and the ions found on the glass surface by ion chromatography. These methods allowed to observe the different degradations that occurred in the three glasses in the presence of different pollutants in aqueous or gaseous environments.