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Our collection here at the National Fish & Wildlife Forensic Laboratory is experiencing an unprecedented mold outbreak in our bird collection and we could use some advice about mold removal and cleaning while protecting the specimens.</p>
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A few weeks ago we found two cabinets with mold growth, some skins were nearly encased in a thin mold film. The specimens with obvious mold growth were moved to the freezer, then cleaned with a cotton swab dipped in ammonia. All other specimens were placed
in a hood with a UV light for 24 hours. The drawers were cleaned with ammonia and then a UV light was placed inside the cabinet for 24 hours. </p>
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We have now discovered more cabinets with mold. Has anyone encountered large-scale mold outbreak in their collection? How did you handle cleaning?</p>
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From what I've read, UV light exposure will kill the mold and won't necessarily harm the specimens unless exposed to UV light for an extensive period of time. <br style="box-sizing: border-box">
Is ammonia the best way of cleaning specimens? Should we be using Ethanol or another solution for the specimens with visible mold growth? </p>
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How would you wipe down/rid the bird skins of mold growing on them? Damp rag with ethanol? Cotton swabs?</p>
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This is a brand new facility built in the last year.<span style="color: rgb(53, 60, 65); font-family: Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> The humidity in the building ranges from 40-42% and the temperature is kept from
64-68 F. We put in dehumidifiers this week to try and drop the humidity even further and are considering an anti-fungal fogger. If anyone has had experience with any of these foggers, we'd appreciate your insight. </span></p>
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Any/all advice would be appreciated.</p>
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Thank you,</p>
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Ariel Gaffney</p>
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</span><span style="margin:0px; color:rgb(0,0,0)">Ariel</span><span style="margin:0px; color:rgb(0,0,0)"> </span></span><span style="margin:0px; font-size:7.5pt; color:rgb(0,0,0)">M. Gaffney, M.Sc.</span><span style="margin:0px; font-size:12.6667px"><br>
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