[Nhcoll-l] Alternative fluid storage methods

Wed Nov 30 02:57:20 EST 2016

Dear Jessa,

there are three unknown components in this: which sort of specimens do 
you want to ship, how large are these, and how far to you want to ship them.

As you mention "wrapping", I assume the are medium sized (approx. 10-15 cm)?

For shipping, there are different regulations that apply, depending on 
how far you want to ship and by which means of transportation. If 
specimens are sent to nearby schools (e.g. 100 km radius from your 
institution), it can be assumed that they are transported on road (and 
thus HazMat regs for road transportation apply, and not the more 
stricter HazMat regulations for air transportation). On road, the 
quantities that are exempted from HazMat regulation are normally higher, 
but you might want to check this with your legal authorities. Also, 
there might be differences between different carriers (if I remember 
correctly from previous posts here, USPS seems to be very restrictive 
regarding acceptance of flammable material, but UPS or FedEx might offer 
more flexibility here).

In general, there are exemptions to up to 1 L (exempted / limited 
quantity), which means that you could sent e.g. twist-off jars if 
sufficiently wrapped. This is common praxis e.g. for cosmetic products, 
such parcels containing perfume etc. or other cosmetic/household 
products, which are regularly transported in the systems of parcel 
carriers. It might be worth to explore what are the exact limitations.

Also, referring to Simon Moor's reply regarding osmotic pressure, it 
makes a difference if you intent to ship delicate specimens, or not 
(jellyfish or a preserved snake or fish). If - as suggested by Alexandra 
- you are using specific teaching objects, the cellular integrity might 
not be your first priority. This means you could sent the specimens in 
25% EthOH which might also be advantageous for the schools & children 
handling these specimens, too. Once back, you they should be returned to 
75% EthOH storage, of course. Below 25 or 24%, ethanol drops out off the 
HazMat regulations, which offer some sort of freedom when attempting to 
ship these specimens. But this shouldn't be done with valuable 
collection material. Our teaching collection at university was stored in 
ethanol drums and from the poor condition of the specimens "handling" 
and "fine motor skills of student" were the most imminent threats (and 
not that they were repeatedly soaked with water during the courses).

If specimens are not too large, you could send them directly in the jars 
(heat-sealing & cushioning the jars of course), also plastic containers 
might be more suited for this specific purpose (instead of glass jars).

Hope this offers some guidance ...
All the best
Dirk

Am 29.11.2016 um 22:20 schrieb Watters, Jessa L.:
> I have been asked by a colleague for assistance regarding methods in 
> which to ship out fluid preserved specimens for educational purposes 
> in K-12 schools.  Teachers receiving the specimens will not normally 
> have access to ethanol to transfer any cheesecloth-wrapped, 
> ethanol-soaked specimens to a jar for use by their students (which is 
> how I would send to another museum, university, etc.).  We definitely 
> do not want to break any laws regarding shipping of hazardous 
> materials, so we are looking for other methods of sharing fluid 
> specimens that still maintains their integrity.  The hazardous 
> shipping cost for leaving them as-is in jars of ethanol is also 
> prohibitive when the kit is sent out every 2 weeks.
>
> A. Is there another fluid that could be used? (i.e. Carosafe or 
> Carolina Perfect Solution or others?).
>
> B. Does anyone have experience with sealing specimens into those 
> acrylic resin blocks?  Do specimens need to be prepped in a certain 
> way before this is possible?  Or can you take a standard 
> formalin-fixed, ethanol-stored specimen and seal it?
>
> Thanks!
> Jessa
>
> Sam Noble Museum 
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> Collection Manager, Herpetology
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