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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">We store majority of samples in a -25°C
deep freezing chamber, 200 x 2 ml tubes per rack, several ten
thousand tubes are currently stored per chamber. Apparently we do
not have this strict safety regulations for our -25°C storage;
these do apply only for room temperature storage at the moment
(where were are allowed to have no more than 20 L of 96 % Ethanol
in a fireproof canister inside our alcohol collection) and inside
the lab facilities (histology & DNA lab), where we were
advised recently that we need to adjust & re-equip fridges and
cupboards used for storage of chemicals. The only distinction here
is that fluids and especially acids and bases must be stored
separately from solids, and that storage of highly reactive
peroxides would need special consideration (but we don't use such
highly self-reactive peroxides).<br>
<br>
It might be worth to check the flash point pure ethanol at -25°C;
freezing point for 96% is between -73/-110 (°C/F) and -115/-175
(°C/F), so keeping ethanol tubes at -80°C means (depending on
dilution of ethanol resulting from dehydrated cells / tissues)
keeping tissues close to freezing point of the fluid (but exposing
samples to physical damage resulting from formation of ice
crystals). <br>
<br>
Flash point at -25°C should be well below 16°C, and also
evaporation pressure inside tubes (and thus building of highly
combustible ethanol-air mixtures) is considerably lower. It might
perhaps be worth checking this with colleagues from Chemistry
departments at University. I doubt that a spark released at the
inside of a freezer (which could either be released from the lamp
or the control) could ignite the content of a tube. More likely in
case of failure (of the compressor) would be that the insulation
catches fire. Perhaps a physical test witnessed by the fire
marshal helps: try to ignite a 2 ml ethanol tube at room
temperature under controlled conditions, place a box with more
ethanol tubes in close vicinity and see what happens. I seriously
doubt that these would catch fire, too. But the devil is a
squirrel and this is not a question about good judgement but
rather an administrative one which helps to demonstrate power ...
<br>
<br>
<br>
Hope this helps,<br>
all the best<br>
Dirk<br>
<br>
<br>
Am 30.01.2015 um 19:24 schrieb John P. Sullivan:<br>
</div>
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<div class="">I am curious to know how people on this list deal
with cold storage for DNA samples in ethanol.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">We have thousands of tissue samples and fish fin
clips preserved in 95% EtOH in 2ml Sarstedt screw cap vials. We
typically store 16 boxes of 81 tubes per freezer rack and can
fit 20 racks in a refrigerator/freezer. This makes for a
maximum of 52 liters or 13.7 gallons of EtOH stored in such a
refrigerator/freezer.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">We have been informed by Environmental Health and
Safety at our institution that it is improper to store these in
regular freezers (as opposed to prohibitively expensive,
specialized “flammable material” freezers).</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">This person cited <span style="font-family: Calibri,
sans-serif; font-size: 15px;" class="">NFPA 45 10.5.2 and
12.2.2 and Article 501 of code 70 the National Electrical
code.</span></div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Here are links to EH&S pages at several
institutions that seem to indicate ethanol storage requires
flammable material freezers:</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class=""><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.usd.edu_research_research-2Dand-2Dsponsored-2Dprograms_upload_Flammable-2DLiquids-2DStorage.pdf&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=sfUtvnZ0J8NsTEIgQdXNNr7uxyEnp6bwuvR7T0JbELE&s=KF4QbWrSBgmNxBdy9sGpN5ZoayJnK3fFYHaiR9pdSK8&e=" class="">http://www.usd.edu/research/research-and-sponsored-programs/upload/Flammable-Liquids-Storage.pdf</a></div>
<div class=""><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.ehs.washington.edu_fsofire_flamfrig.shtm&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=sfUtvnZ0J8NsTEIgQdXNNr7uxyEnp6bwuvR7T0JbELE&s=qdXV0xQBR7I0tPSImqpMt4pk8mwMg_bQcEQlWWOdHC4&e=" class="">http://www.ehs.washington.edu/fsofire/flamfrig.shtm</a></div>
<div class=""><a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__blink.ucsd.edu_safety_research-2Dlab_chemical_liquids_storage_index.html-23Determine-2Dallowable-2Dcontainer-2C-2D&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=sfUtvnZ0J8NsTEIgQdXNNr7uxyEnp6bwuvR7T0JbELE&s=39ybek4t0u3PswjDfD_nsH9j4KPo9k7Ourm56R-91s8&e=" class="">http://blink.ucsd.edu/safety/research-lab/chemical/liquids/storage/index.html#Determine-allowable-container,-</a></div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">However, my informal polling of colleagues on
Facebook suggests that many of them do in fact store screw-top
tubes with tissue samples in ethanol in regular freezers (though
perhaps without the approval/oversight of their EH&S
departments). My view is that fire/explosion risk from storage
of these vials must be negligible to non-existent. The
flashpoint of pure EtoH is 16.6°C. This temp would only be
reached if a freezer failed and no action was taken for a long
period of time. The risk of EtOH vapors concentrating in any
quantity near internal mechanisms that could spark are minimal
since tubes are sealed.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">My questions are: Has anyone here received explicit
clearance from their EH&S to store EtOH tissue samples in
regular freezers? If you got this, what was required to obtain
it? If you have ethanol-preserved tissue samples, how do you
store them?</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">This could make for an interesting and useful
conversation, but feel free to contact me off-list if you’re
concerned about being “on the record.”</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">- John Sullivan</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
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style="border-collapse: separate;
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style="border-collapse:
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none;
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break-word;
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after-white-space;" class="">
<span
class="Apple-style-span"
style="border-collapse:
separate; color: rgb(0, 0,
0); font-variant: normal;
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0px; text-transform: none;
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class="">
<div class="">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br
class="">
John P. Sullivan, PhD
<br class="">
<br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Collections
Archivist &
Curatorial Affiliate -
Cornell University
Museum of Vertebrates</div>
<div class="">Research
Associate - The
Academy of Natural
Sciences of Drexel
University<br class="">
<br class="">
Cornell University
Museum of Vertebrates
<br class="">
159 Sapsucker Woods
Road<br class="">
Ithaca, New York
14850-1923 USA<br
class="">
<br class="">
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:jpsullivan@cornell.edu" class="">jpsullivan@cornell.edu</a>
/ office 607.254.6237,
cell 607.342.2234, fax
607.254.2415</div>
<div class=""><br
class="">
A f r i c h t h y --
The African
Ichthyology Research
Portal -- <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.africhthy.org&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=sfUtvnZ0J8NsTEIgQdXNNr7uxyEnp6bwuvR7T0JbELE&s=vOYiTqQ1fDmmqMF4zkcWu3J1D1KeWFZXZRRhtLF6XNg&e=" style="text-align:
-webkit-auto;" class="">http://africhthy.org</a></div>
<div class="">Mormyridae
LifeDesk — <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.mormyrids.lifedesks.org&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=sfUtvnZ0J8NsTEIgQdXNNr7uxyEnp6bwuvR7T0JbELE&s=vaCTaJovMJIEav-x6fdGnONaHrdClbK3MW8t1xWshlo&e=" style="text-align:
-webkit-auto;" class="">http://mormyrids.lifedesks.org</a></div>
<div class="">Campylomormyrus
Cam — <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.ustream.tv_channel_campylomormyrus-2Dcam&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=sfUtvnZ0J8NsTEIgQdXNNr7uxyEnp6bwuvR7T0JbELE&s=hvIH48eTWjNrD653JwXrLOEOfRCJnxfgOue79pRfijo&e=" class="">http://www.ustream.tv/channel/campylomormyrus-cam</a><br
class="">
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div>
</div>
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<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Dirk Neumann
Tel: 089 / 8107-111
Fax: 089 / 8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
Postanschrift:
Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Labor
Münchhausenstr. 21
81247 München
Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
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---------
Dirk Neumann
Tel: +49-89-8107-111
Fax: +49-89-8107-300
email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
postal address:
Bavarian Natural History Collections
The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab
Muenchhausenstr. 21
81247 Munich (Germany)
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