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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">While the earlier parts of the thread
about cotton wool and such did not seem to be something that would
ever concern me, the following does:<br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix"><br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/7/21 6:32 AM, Callomon,Paul
wrote:<br>
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<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:SN6PR01MB5231D09846EA34D50AA218ADC3B19@SN6PR01MB5231.prod.exchangelabs.com">
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<div class="WordSection1">Tightly-sealed wood cabinets are
nevertheless hazardous for Byne’s because acetic and formic
acids are volatile at room temperature, so they will migrate out
of the wood and go in search of things to eat regardless of
atmospheric conditions. Lower humidity within the cabinets
mitigates this problem to some degree, but does not solve it,
and some woods such as oak are known to exude a lot of acid. It
may be possible to mitigate this with the equivalent of the
“sacrificial anode” on a wooden ship (that is, place a tray of
hygroscopic alkaline material in the cabinet that is more
attractive to the acids than the specimens) but I have not seen
this done. <br>
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<p>I manage a very large insect collection, and ALL insect
collections, without exception, use wooden drawers (though maybe
not wooden *cabinets* any more); my collection has over 5500
wooden drawers, ranging in age from 1 to about 70 years. After
over 20 years going to international meetings for insect
collection curators (the Entomological Collections Network - ECN),
I don't think I have ever heard anyone say that keeping insect
specimens in wooden drawers was something that - <b>in and of
itself</b> - was probably causing significant damage to them
over time. If there are acidic volatiles produced by wood and
paper, then insect collections ARE going to experience significant
exposure, and there are certain things one gets familiar with in
insect collections (black exoskeletons turning red/brown after a
few decades, pins embedded in cork corroding where they contact
the cork and getting stuck, etc.) that might be related to this,
but not fully appreciated as to the cause.<br>
</p>
<p>That strikes me as an odd "disconnect", that a major part of the
NH museum community that very much stands to be affected by this
phenomenon would be so poorly-informed on the subject compared to
other subsets of the community. Has any of the literature and
research on this ever been performed by entomologists, or
published in entomological journals, where it could get broader
attention, and it's just being overlooked, or have we genuinely
been left out of the proverbial loop? A fairly targeted Google
search reveals essentially nothing in the entomological literature
except a short note from 1992 (evidently by a colleague in my own
department) suggesting that acid outgassing from wood might cause
corrosion in insect pins.<br>
</p>
<p>If I'm not mistaken, then maybe one of you folks who is familiar
with the risks of VOCs outgassing from wood would be willing and
interested in contacting the program chairs for the impending
annual ECN meeting, which is online this year, via
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://ecnweb.net/ecn2021/meeting/">https://ecnweb.net/ecn2021/meeting/</a> - the meeting is in only a few
weeks (Oct. 25-27), and most of the program is already set, but I
have the impression that the organizers would do their best to
find a time for such a potentially important presentation.</p>
<p>Sincerely,<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Doug Yanega Dept. of Entomology Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314 skype: dyanega
phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html">https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html</a>
"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82</pre>
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