[NHCOLL-L:1347] RE: Large glass bottles

[Simmons, John E]

I don't know of a supplier for the glass jars you are looking for, but you
might consider PET jars.  Depending on how good the lid is, these might be
reasonable substitutes.  Polyethylene terephthalate is a thin, clear plastic
(the stuff soft drink bottles are made of) which has very low oxygen
permeability.  A number of plastics companies sell them, including:
SKS Bottle and Packaging
3 Knabner Rd
Mechanicville, NY 12118
518-899-7488
 
or
Freund Can Company
155 West 84th Street
Chicago, IL 60620
773-224-4320
 
You can also find a number of manufacturers simply by searching for PET on
the internet.
 
I have not seen them in Walmart here, but I recently purchased a gallon-size
PET jar with polypropylene lid (110 mm mouth) at a Walmart in Mexico City.

What you want to watch is the closure--not all of these containers have
suitable lids.  Check the lid for evaporation potential (put a measured
amount of fluid in the jar, put on the lid, and heat it in a double boiler
for a while).  You can often improve the seal by wrapping the jar threads in
Teflon plumbers tape.

As a larger alternative for fluid preserved specimens, we are using HDPE
(high-density polyethylene) buckets with screw-on lids from Consolidated
Plastics.  These are resistant to alcohol and due to their thickness,
relative impermeable to oxygen (but not as good as PET in this regard).  Do
NOT allow HDPE buckets to be exposed to UV, as this will lead to their
deterioration.
Consolidated Plastics, Inc
1864 Enterprise Parkway
Twinsburg, OH 44087
1-800-362-1000

--John

John E. Simmons
Collection Manager, Natural History Museum
and
Coordinator, Historical Administration and Museum Studies Program
University of Kansas
Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, Kansas 66045-7561
Phone 785-864-4508
FAX 785-864-5335
jsimmons at ku.edu

 
-----Original Message-----
From: Gordon Hendler [mailto:hendler at nhm.org]
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 4:09 PM
To: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:1346] Large glass bottles


	(1) Can anyone suggest sources for half-gallon and one-gallon (or
larger)
glass, screw-top bottles, with 120 mm diameter (or larger) openings?
	The distributors whom we have recently contacted (e.g. Kohls,
General
Bottle Supply, etc.) carry gallon bottles with a 110 mm opening, but have
all discontinued glass bottles with 120 mm openings and no longer stock
half-gallon bottles.
	(2) We are looking for transparent, evaporation-resistant storage
containers for "oversize" specimens that are preserved in alcohol. Has
anyone found alternatives to opaque plastic buckets and metal tanks for
that purpose?
	Thank you for any help with this query.


********************************************
Gordon Hendler, Ph.D.
Curator of Echinoderms
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007 U.S.A.
Voice:  213 763 3526 
Fax:    213 746 2999
e-mail: hendler at nhm.org
********************************************