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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Hi folks,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Yesterday I received a private question about why the Oregon State Ichthyology Collection is mostly stored in 50% isopropanol rather than 70% ethanol. I get this question frequently, usually with some combination
of dismay for the collection specimens and sympathy for me as their manager. <o:p>
</o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The basic answer involves historical contingency. I inherited a 20,000 lot cataloged collection in isopropanol (plus a lot more in backlog), and wasn’t about to change out 20,000+ liters of fluid. Nor do
I have the funds to do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The reasons that Carl Bond chose isopropanol in the first place (circa 1950) aren’t entirely clear to me, but my three best guesses are:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">1) 50% isopropanol is slightly less flammable than 70% ethanol (slightly higher flashpoint, so perhaps better safety)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">2) Isopropanol is (or was) less expensive, particularly because the stock solutions involve more water.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">3) No one is tempted to drink the lab stocks of isopropanol<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">All that said, there’s definitely a sense that isopropyl alcohol is less than ideal for long term preservation. When I tried to follow that to a source a while back, I couldn’t find anything very detailed
about what those drawbacks were. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">I can certainly say that the specimens here at OSU generally look great. I’ve been posting photos recently on the collection’s Facebook page (<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_OregonIchthyologyCollection-29&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=dJo2jLcsWcYEYDAw5hIx5-keoCRISJ9nMwm_Xh3EQrU&s=0_88_eFhFM11IFP9_-xoVOwDi3EeEJC9ZaYLRDCBCbw&e=">https://www.facebook.com/OregonIchthyologyCollection)</a>
to help promote an online fish systematics course that I’m developing, if anyone want to take a look. There are also a bunch up at the collection’s database at
<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__ichthyology.oregonstate.edu&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=dJo2jLcsWcYEYDAw5hIx5-keoCRISJ9nMwm_Xh3EQrU&s=1f1Pyb1AX11PAF15Las-XYQW3LsZ-kTx8vZa4-C_aNs&e=">http://ichthyology.oregonstate.edu</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">And, we just published this paper suggesting that fish specimen shape is stable over decades of isopropanol storage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.bioone.org_doi_abs_10.1643_CG-2D15-2D303&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=dJo2jLcsWcYEYDAw5hIx5-keoCRISJ9nMwm_Xh3EQrU&s=0esFdfGbfJcHNMO0tSarf5Px7YjOIt7KtyHt-mwtym8&e=">http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1643/CG-15-303</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">So, I’d be very interested to hear about whether there’s actually good data suggesting that isopropanol storage is seriously problematic!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Thanks for reading, and best fishes,
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Brian <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">-- <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Brian Sidlauskas<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Associate Professor and Curator of Fishes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Department of Fisheries and Wildlife<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Oregon State University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">104 Nash Hall<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">Corvallis, OR 97331<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><a href="mailto:brian.sidlauskas@oregonstate.edu" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">brian.sidlauskas@oregonstate.edu</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><a href="tel:541-737-6789" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">541-737-6789</span></a> (office) <a href="tel:541-224-3850" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">541-224-3850</span></a> (cell)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__ichthyology.oregonstate.edu_&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=dJo2jLcsWcYEYDAw5hIx5-keoCRISJ9nMwm_Xh3EQrU&s=-DozNfx1Mk1_Pv5EpM7kCTluPlKeX_BTSjy4SYwRciE&e=" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">http://ichthyology.oregonstate.edu</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__people.oregonstate.edu_-7Esidlausb&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=dJo2jLcsWcYEYDAw5hIx5-keoCRISJ9nMwm_Xh3EQrU&s=2jyGfISgctFmomwv3hFRaBDruSjF5-FwZeWK50un_y4&e=" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">http://people.oregonstate.edu/~sidlausb</span></a>/<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.facebook.com_brian.sidlauskas&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=dJo2jLcsWcYEYDAw5hIx5-keoCRISJ9nMwm_Xh3EQrU&s=Z51Qj8UbpSW3Q7DCi88a1Ei4z1nCZgd1TlQ6ZhMHb24&e=" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">https://www.facebook.com/brian.sidlauskas</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_briansidlauskas&d=AwMGaQ&c=-dg2m7zWuuDZ0MUcV7Sdqw&r=CLFZJ3fvGSmDp7xK1dNZfh6uGV_h-8NVlo3fXNoRNzI&m=dJo2jLcsWcYEYDAw5hIx5-keoCRISJ9nMwm_Xh3EQrU&s=Zzw3bAqDSduTHLKwcY-Al6xPcY6-uxueDzrLDax-Q0w&e=" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">https://twitter.com/briansidlauskas</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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