[NHCOLL-L:3410] Re: [AVECOL-L] Mercury levels in old specimens

Wed Apr 25 15:47:47 EDT 2007

Dear List,
See inquiry below that appeared on AVECOL-L last week about the historic 
application of mercury to specimens.  Does anyone have further information 
for Kim?
Thanks,
Laura

Envelope-to: abraczi1 at MSU.EDU
From: Kimberly Bostwick <ksb6 at cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: [AVECOL-L] Mercury levels in old specimens
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:13:20 -0400
To: Laura Abraczinskas <abraczi1 at MSU.EDU>
X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.752.3)
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Hi Laura,

Thanks for the information.  And please do forward this question to NHCOLL!

Kim

Hi Kim,

FYI - See these links for publications on Mercury in natural history 
collections.  It has been reported that mercury applied to museum 
objects/specimens was primarily corrosive sublimate, (HgCl2).

http://www.spnhc.org/opencms/opencms/spnhc/publications/linked_documents/CF16-1_2.htm 
(click on the titles for full articles)

http://www.spnhc.org/opencms/opencms/spnhc/publications/linked_documents/CF17-1_2.htm

Also see Collection Forum Volume 20 (1-2) (no link yet).

Do you mind if I forward your message to NHCOLL-L (natural history 
collections discussion list)?

Best,
Laura

In general I know almost nothing about the usage of mercury in museum 
specimens historically and would be curious for any information any one 
could share.

Cheers,
Kim

At 03:11 PM 4/19/2007, you wrote:
>Greetings All,
>
>Recently 2 issues have come up here concerning the historic usage of 
>mercury-containing compounds for guarding old specimens against pests.
>
>  First, we had one of our dingier-looking old redtail mounts tested for 
> Mercury and nearly gave EHS a collective heart-attack with the resultant 
> high levels found.  THAT was fun and interesting (we are now fighting to 
> be allowed to simply recycle the new cardboard boxes in which the mounts 
> were stored temporarily during a move).
>
>Then this week I received an email from a feather-loanee (Chris Rimmer) 
>reporting high levels of mercury in a specimen in which they want to 
>detect natural levels of inorganic mercury contamination (see his email 
>below).  He is looking for information on protocol used in the previous 
>century for applying the mercury compounds, so that they might recreate 
>the procedure to try to find a way to remove the "treatment" mercury while 
>leaving the "natural".
>
>Can anyone point me/him in the direction of some resource?  In general I 
>know almost nothing about the usage of mercury in museum specimens 
>historically and would be curious for any information any one could share.
>
>Cheers,
>Kim
>
>
>"I'm hoping you can help me with a request related to our planned analysis 
>of mercury in the Bicknell's Thrush specimen breast feathers you sent me 
>from the Cornell collection.  My collaborator at Texas A&M Trace Element 
>Research Lab, Bob Taylor, and I are concerned about possible contamination 
>of specimens with inorganic mercury.  Some months ago, we ran analyses on 
>breast feathers from a Bicknell's Thrush and Swainson's Thrush collected 
>in the 1880s, and mercury levels of both were extremely high.  I gather 
>that mercuric chloride, or similar mercury-containing compounds, may have 
>been routinely applied to museum specimens, particularly older ones, 
>during the curation process.  Bob and I are wondering how we can account 
>for this in analyzing mercury burdens in these feathers and comparing them 
>to feathers we have recently collected from mist-netted thrushes.  Bob's 
>thought is that if we could identify the specific protocols that were used 
>in treating specimens with mercuric chloride or similar compounds, we 
>could potentially replicate those treatments on other sets of feathers 
>(definitely NOT those from the specimens you sent, however).
>
>Our idea is to use several sets of paired feathers for this.  In each set, 
>one feather would be treated as a specimen might have been, and the other 
>would be left untreated.  We would then bathe the treated feather in a 
>dilute HCl solution, which should remove the applied inorganic 
>Hg.  Analyzing both feathers should then produce Hg levels that are very 
>similar.  If so, we will then feel confident using the HCl bath on the 
>specimen feathers you and other curators sent us.  If the HCl bath fails 
>to remove all the treated Hg, we will have to find another removal 
>method.  The alternative is simply to measure methylmercury in the 
>specimen feathers (i.e. the toxic form that is sequestered from the bird's 
>system), but this is a more complicated and much more costly 
>analysis.  Thus, our hope is be able to remove the inorganic mercury from 
>the feather surfaces prior to analyses.
>
>My request is whether you can point me towards any published or 
>unpublished documents or other historical references that describe 
>specimen treatment protocols, especially those that include any 
>application of mercury-containing compounds.  Of course, anything specific 
>to Cornell curation practices would be especially helpful.  If those 
>practices have changed over time, that would be important information as 
>well.  Basically, any citations, copies of documents, or other insights 
>would be extremely useful and much appreciated."
>
>
>
>
>*************************
>
>Dr. Kimberly Bostwick
>
>Curator, Birds and Mammals Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates
>
>& Research Associate, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
>
>Cornell University
>
>(607) 254-2160
>
>
>Mailing Address:
>
>Imogene Powers Johnson Center
>
>159 Sapsucker Woods Road
>
>Ithaca, New York 14850

Laura Abraczinskas
Collections Manager
Vertebrate Natural History Collections
Michigan State University Museum
West Circle Drive
East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1045

517/355-1290 (office)
517/432-2846 (FAX)  