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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Something to keep in mind-<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Based on our sampling, by chemical analysis, of fluids in tanks of preserved animals, if the animals were fixed or previously preserved in formalin there will
always be a significant amount present in the alcohol. By significant, I don’t mean by quantity but as a hazard. I would caution against doing much sniff testing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""> nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces@mailman.yale.edu]
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Best, Megan<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, March 06, 2014 9:03 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> nhcoll-l@mailman.yale.edu<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Nhcoll-l] Telling formalin from ethanol<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Hello all,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">I’ve been benefitting from the conversations on this listserv for some time now,</span><span lang="EN-CA">
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">really fascinating and useful stuff.</span><span lang="EN-CA"> </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""> I manage a research collection, mostly of marine invertebrates,
and I have a question:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Is there an easy way to tell if</span><span lang="EN-CA">
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">a fixative is formalin or ethanol? </span><span lang="EN-CA">
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">Aside from the smell test!</span><span lang="EN-CA"> </span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""> I’m looking to organise</span><span lang="EN-CA">
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">hundreds of jars from various benthic surveys, and we want to switch out anything that’s in formalin to ethanol. The formalin is buffered so I don’t think a pH difference would be a strong
indicator. Any ideas/advice would be appreciated.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"">-Megan</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:green">Megan Best</span></b><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><br>
<span style="color:green">Invertebrate Taxonomy</span><br>
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:green">tel: 902.426.2791 email:
<a href="mailto:megan.best@dfo-mpo.gc.ca">megan.best@dfo-mpo.gc.ca</a></span><span lang="EN-CA"><br>
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:green">Ocean and Ecosystem Sciences Division | Division des sciences de l'écosystème et de la mer</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><br>
<span style="color:green">Department of Fisheries and Oceans | Ministère des Pêches et Oceans</span></span><span lang="EN-CA"><br>
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:green">Government of Canada | Government du Canada</span><span lang="EN-CA"><br>
</span><span lang="EN-CA" style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:green">Bedford Institute of Oceanography | Institut Océanographique de Bedford</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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