[NHCOLL-L:1237] RE: Ethanol-preserved collections and fire-codes

[Simmons, John E]

I have responded to quite a number of calls on this subject.  The short
answer is:
1.  There is no suitable substitute for ethanol alcohol as a fluid
preservative.  There are quite  number of concoctions which have been
proposed, but none of them have been tested nor do any of them have the
record of 300+ year's of use that ethanol does.

2.  Most fire departments rely on the International Fire Code for their
standards.  This code addressed the storage of bulk alcohol (95%) in large
drums, and the storage of retail liquor.  Neither of these is similar to a
fluid-preserved collection in 70% ethanol.

3.  Some of the fire code regulations make sense for museum collections.
For example, alcohol fumes are heavier than air, so you should not keep
collections in a basement.  Other regulations are overkill, for example, the
ignition danger of preservative ethanol is grossly exaggerated given how
quickly fumes disperse in the air and how little evaporates from the
containers.  An alcohol spill might present a larger problem, but that can
be dealt with other ways.  The key thing is to work with the officials to
reduce the sources of ignition and spills in the storage area.

4.  We had to go through the process of building a new facility for our
ethanol collections.  It is complex and costly to do so, and to maintain it.
For example, our facility is maintained at 65 F year round, with 100% air
make-up (no re-circulation).  In the end, because the regulations do not
cover a museum situation, some compromises must be reached with the fire
officials.  You must maintain a good working relationship with them and be
prepared offer information to help them develop a fire plan which will keep
your museum safe without needlessly enforcing regulations simply because
they are there.

I am attaching a file to this message that contains a section from the
revision I am currently working on of my 1987 publication, "Herpetological
Collecting and Collections Management."  The information it is should be
useful to anyone facing this situation.  Please feel free to contact me if I
might be of any further assistance to anyone facing this issue.  I would
greatly appreciate it if others who have dealt with this issue will post
their experiences also, so that we might learn from each other's
experiences.

--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: Brad Hubley [mailto:bradh at rom.on.ca]
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2001 10:16 AM
To: nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu; ENTOMO-L at LISTSERV.UOGUELPH.CA
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:1233] Ethanol-preserved collections and fire-codes


We're encountering a situation where we may have to rethink how we store our
ethanol-preserved collections in light of fire-code regulations.  I'm
interested in hearing back from anyone who has had to deal with a similar
situation.  Were you required to build a dedicated facility for the storage
of your collection, move it offsite, use fire-proof cabinets?  

Is anyone aware of a substitute for ethanol for the long-term preservation
of entomological collections?

Brad



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
  Brad Hubley
  Entomology Collection Manager
  Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Biology 
  Royal Ontario Museum
  100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario           
  Canada    M5S 2C6

  Phone:  1-416-586-5764 
  FAX:      1-416-586-5553 
  email:  bradh at rom.on.ca 
  Visit our website at: http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/ 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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