[NHCOLL-L:1065] FW: Ethafoam

[Jane MacKnight]

The following information was posted to AAM's Registrars Committee list.  I
think it's of interest to NH-COLL readers as well.

Jane MacKnight
Cincinnati Museum Center


---Original Message-----
From: David Ryan [mailto:DRyan at CI.COLOSPGS.CO.US]
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 12:26 PM
To: RCAAM at SIVM.SI.EDU
Subject: Re: Ethafoam


Wow,
I hate to even think how much ethafoam we are using- its everywhere!  I did
go to Dow's website and sure enough they did change their blowing agent to
some nameless "hydrocarbon."  On another page in some of their technical
data they say that contact with hydrocarbons can lead to deterioration of
the foam- go figure.  They list the materials that the blowing agent is not
but they won't reveal what it is- probably the exhaust gasses from their
plant boiler.

Sincerely;
David Ryan
David Ryan
Registrar
Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum
www.cspm.org


-----Original Message-----
From: Deborah Confer [mailto:confer at SPOT.COLORADO.EDU]
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 5:55 PM
To: RCAAM at SIVM.SI.EDU
Subject: Ethafoam


A friend emailed me that in the "Collections Caretaker" newsletter put out
by the
Northern States Conservation Center there's an article by Helen Alten (with
input from Cathy Hawks) about Ethafoam. Apparently, Dow stopped using CO2
to make the foam bubbles in about 1996 and the new gases they are using are
not inert. They suggest asking manufacturers
what gas was blown into the foam during manufacture--and if it wasn't CO2
or nitrogen, forget it. She says "At this point, based on their
manufacturing process, the two safest polyethlylene foams for museum use
may be Zotefoam and Voltek's Volara foams." Zotefoam's bubbles are made
with nitrogen and Volara foams are electron-radiation cross-linked and most
aren't made by blowing gases into it to form bubbles.

I'm not familiar with Zotefoam. Is it like Ethafoam in texture and density?
 I'm also wondering how well the Ethafoam bought in the last 5 years will
last.

Debbie Confer


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deborah Confer
Anthropology Collections Manager
University of Colorado Museum
218 UCB
Boulder, CO  80309-0218
phone:  303/492-2198
fax:    303/492-4195
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~