[Nhcoll-l] Quarantine and methyl bromide

[Simon Moore]

Just a quick add-on. I have used nitrogen as opposed to CO2 and the zerO2 website. Sorry I can't say more but am on holiday.
Simon 

Sent from my Windows 10 phone

From: Gali Beiner
Sent: 05 May 2018 11:04
To: Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Quarantine and methyl bromide

Hello Mazin,

The ban on methyl bromide came into effect quite a while back, and my MA thesis as a student of conservation dealt exactly with the question of available alternatives (the results were published in The Conservator vol. 29 issue 1 pp. 5-18 from 2010). 

As I see it at the moment, the most viable (but not only) alternatives include:

1. Freezing (according to specific protocols)
2. Anoxia (most often with CO2 but other gases are being used as well)
3. Fumigation with pyrethroids (considered to be relatively safe for mammals, that is for humans). 

There still is more research to do on possible effects on specific collections, for example entomology collections, but all three methods are in use as interventive means of pest control. The feasibilty of each one depends on specific factors in each collection or institution. In our collections, the herbarium and the mammal and bird collections are treated by freezing (usually -40 degrees celsius) according to protocols published in conservation research. Freezing was chosen because of ease of use, lack of toxicity and lower cost compared with other methods. Limitations are mainly related to the size of the freezer and the objects. I will be happy to give more details on the exact protocol if this is of interest to you. 

Hope this helps, 

Gali Beiner (ACR)
Conservator, Palaeontology Lab
National Natural History Collections
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 
Berman Building, Edmond J. Safra campus, Givat Ram
Jerusalem 91904, Israel
Fax. 972-2-6585785
gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__nnhc.huji.ac.il_&d=DwIFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=-G2MCTJRUBsSZMsYCPKkygCCbYEinTJyh9RJsjQccYQ&s=Xa80OLUoB0fh37L15o5SvCV2OHuOZgeuzMfZRpB5HCg&e=

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