[Nhcoll-l] Potential problem with older PE jar lid liners

[Paul Callomon]

Colleagues,

I have today found a severely deteriorated jar lid liner in our alcohol collection. The liner is made from polyethylene foam. It was sold to us in 1999 and installed in 2000. The material has failed completely, with crazing and cracking of the surface and tearing along the compression face. The foam has become weak and powdery in places. The jar was filled with 70% ethanol.

The manufacturers have suggested that the use of this liner for long-term storage of alcohol is responsible for the deterioration. If this is true, the implications for our collection - we have about 20,000 bottles that use these liners - are potentially serious.

Does anyone have experience with this problem? Are Teflon liners a better alternative?

Paul Callomon
Collections Manager in Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and General Invertebrates
The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia, PA  19103
callomon at ansp.org
Tel. 215-405-5096
ansp.org
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