[Nhcoll-l] Best packing material for moving of wet collection jars

[Abraczinskas, Laura]

Hello,
The "PIG" sheets that Paul mentioned are made of polypropylene.  We have received them with wet-specimen return loan packaging.

The "PIG" absorbent socks (for example Blue Absorbent) do contain vermiculite.
Best,
Laura

Laura Abraczinskas
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
Collections Manager, Vertebrate Collections
Michigan State University Museum
409 West Circle Drive
East Lansing, Michigan  48824
USA

(517) 355-1290 (Office)

Michigan State University occupies the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary Lands of the Anishinaabeg-Three Fires Confederacy of Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples. The University resides on Land ceded in the 1819 Treaty of Saginaw.

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Callomon,Paul
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2023 7:28 PM
To: Elizabeth Wommack <ewommack at uwyo.edu>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Best packing material for moving of wet collection jars

When a major alcohol collection was shipped to us by truck from another museum a few years ago, it was packed by the shippers into 55-gallon plastic drums with detachable lids. Inside the drums, the glass jars were packed tightly and sorbent sheet (known as "pig") was used both to separate and steady them and to absorb any leaks. There were none, as it turned out. The movers benefited from being able to use the various carts and barrows already long in use for moving heavy drums of fluid that ensure a drum is not tipped over at any stage.

Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates
________________________________
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia
callomon at ansp.org<mailto:callomon at ansp.org> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170
________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Elizabeth Wommack <ewommack at uwyo.edu<mailto:ewommack at uwyo.edu>>
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2023 7:03 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Best packing material for moving of wet collection jars


External.
The UWYMV has to do an emergency move of its wet collection to accommodate construction in the museum building.

We are working with our Safety Office to make sure the fluid specimens will be stored as safely as possible. The current plan is to package up each shelf into hard sided moving boxes, fill the space inbetween jars with vermiculite, and store the collection in the flammable liquid storage building until construction is completed.

I have read both Simmons 2014 and Coetzer et al. 2009, as well as gone through SPNHC's documentation on moving of collections. With our very limited time we will do the best we can for inventory, and make sure each jar is topped off before it goes into a box.

I could not find recommendations on boxing and packing material for movement of whole jars of fluid specimens however. Vermiculite was the recommendation of our Safety Office, since that is how they transport jars of chemicals safely. Does anyone know of adverse affects from vermiculite or a better easily accessible storage material we should be using?

Any thoughts and recommendations greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Beth Wommack

Elizabeth Wommack, PhD
Curator and Collections Manager of Vertebrates
University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates
Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY 82071
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pronouns: she, her, herself
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