<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.19412">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hi Harim,</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I am sure that you will get many replies to
this in time.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial>70% ethanol, is the preferred preservative
(over formalin) for most animal tissue these days due to its low toxicity
and non-carcenogenicity despite its flammability and propensity for
evaporation. In other words it is preferred largely due to health &
safety reasons, also for its ability to preserve DNA.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial>However it does alter many pigments
chemically and one of the classics is the the blue lobster changing to red as
alcohol will 'unbind' the more complex crustacyanin molecule to produce its
component astaxanthin which is the red lobster colour. Tetrapyrroles as
found in plants (chlorophyll) are rapiy 'unbound' by alcohol giving plants
a bleached/washed-out appearance in alcohol. </FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Alcohol (70%) will also auto-dilute over
time - the pure alcohol evaporates (romantically known as the angels'
share) so the remaining alcohol became increasingly diluted. As the
alcohol auto dilutes, the rate of evaporation will gradually become
slower.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial>There are those who find that 50% alcohol
is less flammable and volatile but will (just manage to) maintain the state of
preservation to an adequate level. There may be other reasons that will
soon become apparent but that is the situation as I presently understand
it.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I hope that this is
useful.</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></STRONG> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial>With all good wishes, Simon.
</FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS,
ACR<BR>Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,<BR><A
href="http://www.natural-history-conservation.com">www.natural-history-conservation.com</A>
<BR></FONT></STRONG></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=hacha@ucsd.edu href="mailto:hacha@ucsd.edu">Harim Cha</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu
href="mailto:nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu">nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Monday, May 13, 2013 8:28 PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [Nhcoll-l] Preservative for
invertebrates</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>Hi all,<BR><BR>I am looking for help/advice on finding references on
preservative of invertebrates.<BR></DIV>If anyone knows/has references
mentioning<BR></DIV>1) reasons for using 70% ethanol as a standard long term
preservative of marine invertebrates<BR></DIV>2) effects (pros/cons) on using
lower concentration (50%) of ethanol as a long term preservative of marine
invertebrates<BR></DIV>
<DIV>could you please contact Harim, a collection manager at SIO, at <A
href="mailto:hacha@ucsd.edu">hacha@ucsd.edu</A><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Any advice or comments on using lower concentration of ethanol as a long
term preservative would be really appreciative. <BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_extra>Thanks,<BR><BR>Harim<BR clear=all><BR>-- <BR><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">Harim
Cha</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">Benthic
Invertebrate Collection</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">Scripps
Institution of Oceanography</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">University
of California, San Diego 0244</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">9500
Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0244, U.S.A.</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">Phone:
858-822-2818</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">Courier
delivery (FedEx/UPS) address:</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">8675
Discovery Way</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">138/
141 Vaughan Hall</SPAN><BR
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)"><SPAN
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(255,255,255); FONT-FAMILY: garamond,serif; COLOR: rgb(51,51,255)">La
Jolla, CA 92037</SPAN><BR></DIV></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>_______________________________________________<BR>Nhcoll-l mailing
list<BR>Nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu<BR>http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l<BR>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P><A></A>
<P align=left color="#000000" avgcert??>No virus found in this
message.<BR>Checked by AVG - <A
href="http://www.avg.com">www.avg.com</A><BR>Version: 2013.0.3336 / Virus
Database: 3162/6320 - Release Date: 05/13/13</P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>