[NHCOLL-L:3129] Re: Request information on use of propylene glycol as shipping medium for terrestrial arthropods

[Doug Yanega]

>Hello Everyone,
>We are looking at replacing the ethanol in our arachnid vials with 
>propylene glycol for shipment on loans.  This would be for shipment 
>only and we would request the borrower replace the propylene glycol 
>with ethanol when specimens arrived.  As far as we can tell, 
>propylene glycol is not listed in the dangerous goods covered by CFR 
>49 or IATA.
>
>Does anyone have experience doing this?  Any conservation concerns 
>come to mind?  All references that I've found seem to indicate that 
>propylene glycol is OK for specimens and even OK (if not ideal) for 
>DNA.  Any negative experiences?  Any red flags?

We recently bought a drum of PG from Ruger Chemical Co. - it came 
with a big green sticker on it saying NOT RESTRICTED. Clearly it does 
indeed pass muster for shipping - though I wonder where one obtains 
those green stickers?

Hope this helps,
-- 

Doug Yanega        /Dept. of Entomology         /Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521-0314
phone: (951) 827-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
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