[NHCOLL-L:2902] Jar closure test

[Thomas Labedz]

FYI

Wanting to know more about potential alcohol evaporation rates from a 
new jar closure for our fluid-preserved specimens I ran what I thought 
was going to be a little, short-term experiment.  On December 1, 1995 I 
sealed a 4 ounce, tall-form, flint glass jar with a polypropylene lid 
with a foamed polyethylene (F-217) liner.  The jar had been filled with 
60% ethyl alcohol (un-denatured alcohol diluted with distilled water) 
to within 20 mm of the jar’s collar.  I then put a piece of clear tape 
on the outside of the jar, set it on a shelf in my office, and marked 
the bottom of the fluid’s meniscus with an ink line.  Then I waited.  
In ten years the level of fluid within the jar has dropped 3 mm.  I had 
only intended for the experiment to run a year or two but things kept 
getting busier and busier and I never got back to it.  I hope this 
helps someone decide what type of closure to use in their museum’s 
fluid-preserved collections.

Thomas E. Labedz, Collections Manager
Division of Zoology and Division of Botany
University of Nebraska State Museum
W-436 Nebraska Hall
Lincoln, NE  68588-0514
402.472.8366	fax 402.472.8949
tlabedz1 at unl.edu   www.museum.unl.edu

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