[NHCOLL-L:719] Re: Shipment of Dangerous Goods

[Doug Yanega]

Kelly Sendall wrote:

>The amount of alcohol I usually sent was minimal and could either
>be classed as an "Excepted Quantities" or "Limited Quantities" shipment. If
>designated as "Excepted Quantities", the package did not require a Shippers
>Declaration Form. A particular decal was all that was required with some
>details and a signature. If classed as "Limited Quantity" the regulations
>are a little more lenient too.
>
>Thomas Labedz at the University of Nebraska State Museum should realize that
>unless your colleagues are certified by a so called IATA/TDG instructor,
>they can not validate shipments of dangerous goods. You can however train
>them to pack shipments according to the IATA regulations and have the
>shipper for the institution certified to sign the declaration forms et
>cetera.
>
>Doug Yanega at the University of California - Riverside should realize that
>as long as there is any 'pourable' alcohol et cetera in the containers he is
>shipping, it is classed as TDG.

But - if I interpret the preceding comments correctly - the amount of
alcohol involved qualifies as a "Limited Quantity" and so the only problem
is that I am not officially *certified* to classify the shipment as such.
So, how does one get certified?

>I myself have come to realize that almost everyone avoids the shipment of
>dangerous goods by removing all the 'flowable' fluid. After some serious
>investigation I have decided the best way to go is to wrap the critters to
>be sent in cheesecloth or something similar, pour off all the alcohol

This doesn't work when the specimens average less than 1 mm in length. I
don't think "almost everyone" includes many entomologists. ;-)

Peace,


Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
           http://entmuseum9.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
  "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
        is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82