[NHCOLL-L:1790] Re: Liquid nitrogen field collections and materials used

[Sean Barry]

On Wed, 11 Dec 2002, Alexandra M. Snyder wrote:

> I am trying to come up with materials that can be used in the field to
> collect whole fishes (small) for tissue subsampling.  These materials must
> hold up in liquid nitrogen.

> to these collections.  I could also use some advice on a good pen that will
> write on the plastic nunc tubes and hold up in the liquid nitrogen.  The
> thicker nibs are problematic and the Sharpie Industrial has not passed my
> tests.  Again, the researchers will not put a backup label inside the nunc
> tube with the tissue leaving me to second guess the handwriting or the
> faded pen ink.


The Pilot "Ultra-fine point SCA-UF Permanent Marker" (Pilot Corporation of
America, Trumbull, CT 06611) is the best I've found for ultra-cold
applications.  The labels are still quite legible on foil that I froze in
LN2 and stored 15 years ago at -80 The ink doesn't always adhere well to
plain polypropylene, but works fine on white-frosted surfaces such as Nunc
tube labels.  It also adheres reliably to lab tape, REVCO boxes, and most
importantly to aluminum foil.  Avoid excessive handling, but as long as
the foil is smooth the label should remain legible indefinitely.  Again,
it should hold up forever on Nunc tubes.

Sean Barry
*********************
Sean J. Barry
The Rowe Program in Molecular Genetics (mail address)
  and The Section of Evolution and Ecology
University of California
Davis, California  95616
(530) 752 9160
FAX (530) 754 6015
sjbarry at ucdavis.edu