[Nhcoll-l] Test for formalin

Thu May 28 17:51:52 EDT 2020

Am hoping that Irene will be able to respond - her work on this issue has been phenomenal and is soon to be published.
Sent from my iPhone
Catharine Hawks
________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Mandy Reid <Mandy.Reid at austmus.gov.au>
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 5:40 PM
To: Robert Waller; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Test for formalin

External Email - Exercise Caution
Thanks Rob
You are absolutely right and I agree this is a very important distinction. I hope you don’t mind that I have copied it to the broader mailing list but kept the header so it is linked to the previous comments.
Cheers
Mandy

Dr Mandy Reid

Collection Manager, Malacology | Australian Museum Research Institute
Australian Museum  1 William Street Sydney NSW 2010 Australia
T 61 2 9320 6412 | M 61 431 829 842 | F 61 2 9320 6253

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D6358B.F5A3FE60]

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

The Australian Museum acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum is located, the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. The Museum aspires to celebrate, educate and preserve the diverse natural history and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.

From: Robert Waller <rw at protectheritage.com>
Sent: Friday, 29 May 2020 3:53 AM
To: Mandy Reid <Mandy.Reid at austmus.gov.au>
Subject: RE: Test for formalin

Hi Mandy,
That may be completely adequate for your needs but from a health and safety perspective we should recognize this is not a test for the absence of formalin but, rather, for the presence of alcohol. In that sense, it should not be thought of as a “test for formalin” but a “test for alcohol” with the understanding that the alcohol may or may not also have a significant concentration of formalin. Again, that may not be important in your application but we always do well to ensure terminology does not lead to misunderstandings.
Rob

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Mandy Reid
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 2:21 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Test for formalin

Thank you to all the people who responded regarding testing for formalin when you are unsure whether a specimen is stored in ethanol or formalin (particularly problematic in historic museum specimens). I had an excellent idea sent to me by colleagues from NIWA (The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in Wellington, New Zealand) that I would like to share. It is very simple, very inexpensive and it is very effective.

Simply draw a line of permanent marker on a strip of wet label paper. Dipped into a formalin solution, the marker stays intact. Dipped into an into an ethanol solution the marker starts running, or bleeding into the paper.

I tried it and it works perfectly. I have attached an image.

Cheers
Mandy
Dr Mandy Reid

Collection Manager, Malacology | Australian Museum Research Institute
Australian Museum  1 William Street Sydney NSW 2010 Australia
T 61 2 9320 6412 | M 61 431 829 842 | F 61 2 9320 6253

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D6358B.F5A3FE60]

Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

The Australian Museum acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which the Museum is located, the Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. The Museum aspires to celebrate, educate and preserve the diverse natural history and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.

[Image removed by sender.]<https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.proofpoint.com%2Fv2%2Furl%3Fu%3Dhttps-3A__australianmuseum.net.au_project-2Ddiscover%26d%3DDwMFAg%26c%3DUDk80sNTkE1d7izd_F57bQ%26r%3DDslgpebAF2tv-iPFyXVp_O9cWGmIw7gDuxhDYDyULzQ%26m%3D13EWHLJl8U6AdBSVhnZiXIk4qTlqKV9ijypP1anOcPQ%26s%3D5kTckCTd9dAqQpjQygroZChSpCZtIp6RKqBP8G1sR2w%26e%3D&data=02%7C01%7Chawksc%40si.edu%7Cd79d9813f83547ef065208d8034fb36b%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637262988154048211&sdata=5Ag9y%2Fu8k1526VBNa2gc3Nikrlr8t6nbhswZGQ4uekQ%3D&reserved=0>
The Australian Museum email disclaimer
The views in this email are those of the user and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Museum. The information contained in this email message and any accompanying files is or may be confidential and is for the intended recipient only. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, reliance, forwarding, printing or copying of this email or any attached files is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify the sender. The Australian Museum does not guarantee the accuracy of any information contained in this e-mail or attached files. As Internet communications are not secure, the Australian Museum does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message or attached files.

[https://media.australianmuseum.net.au/media/dd/images/600x140px_EmailSignatures_ProjectDiscover_2v4.b.d0cdf0f.jpg] <https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Faustralianmuseum.net.au%2Fproject-discover&data=02%7C01%7Chawksc%40si.edu%7Cd79d9813f83547ef065208d8034fb36b%7C989b5e2a14e44efe93b78cdd5fc5d11c%7C0%7C0%7C637262988154048211&sdata=xXPThubRG4kaqWLrZHr%2BbTnvTHdLN4p1%2F8LXttNvJqE%3D&reserved=0>

The Australian Museum email disclaimer

The views in this email are those of the user and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Museum. The information contained in this email message and any accompanying files is or may be confidential and is for the intended recipient only. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, reliance, forwarding, printing or copying of this email or any attached files is unauthorised. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify the sender. The Australian Museum does not guarantee the accuracy of any information contained in this e-mail or attached files. As Internet communications are not secure, the Australian Museum does not accept legal responsibility for the contents of this message or attached files.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20200528/be267d92/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 4897 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20200528/be267d92/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 1344 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20200528/be267d92/attachment-0001.jpg>