[Nhcoll-l] FW: Preparing Tetraodontid Skeletons

[Hawks, Catharine]

From: Harmon, Kimberly A. <HarmonKA at si.edu>
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2021 2:03 PM
To: Hawks, Catharine <HawksC at si.edu>; Hunt, Michael <HuntMi at si.edu>; Makos, Kathryn <MAKOSK at si.edu>; Kathryn Makos [kamakos at verizon.net] (kamakos at verizon.net) <kamakos at verizon.net>
Subject: RE: Preparing Tetraodontid Skeletons

Definitely!
I can't say that I have any experience with it but was intrigued.
And it looks like they really do need to take serious precautions.

Looks like it is highly toxic not only through ingestion but can also be absorbed through the skin or inhaled.  I found this animal toxicity study using tetrodotoxin which lists PPE and precautions when injecting it in animals, which might be a good starting place for info and it looks like the person listed might still be at Emory.
http://www.dar.emory.edu/safety/agents/TETRODO.pdf
Here's is also a SDS for tetrodotoxin
https://www.caymanchem.com/msdss/14963m.pdf

Kim
From: Hawks, Catharine <HawksC at si.edu<mailto:HawksC at si.edu>>
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2021 1:16 PM
To: Harmon, Kimberly A. <HarmonKA at si.edu<mailto:HarmonKA at si.edu>>; Hunt, Michael <HuntMi at si.edu<mailto:HuntMi at si.edu>>; Makos, Kathryn <MAKOSK at si.edu<mailto:MAKOSK at si.edu>>; Kathryn Makos [kamakos at verizon.net] (kamakos at verizon.net<mailto:kamakos at verizon.net>) <kamakos at verizon.net<mailto:kamakos at verizon.net>>
Subject: FW: Preparing Tetraodontid Skeletons

Interesting inquiry!

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> On Behalf Of Christina Giovas
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2021 9:45 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Preparing Tetraodontid Skeletons

External Email - Exercise Caution

Hello All,



An Australian colleague of mine is preparing fish specimens for osteological collections and has several pufferfish (Tetraodontidae) to tackle. She is worried about tetrodotoxin exposure using conventional methods. Is anyone aware of published protocols for safely skeletonizing these fish or have experience handling tetraodontids or diodontids? Looking to avert a bad outcome.



Many thanks,

Christina


Christina M. Giovas, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University
Associate Editor, Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology
Associate Editor, Journal of Anthropological Research
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20210513/0634dbb3/attachment.html>