[NHCOLL-L:3312] Recrystallizing naphthalene on natural history

[Cindy A Ramotnik]

Dear Colleagues, I am forwarding this request with 
permission from Erin Chapman, who initially sent it to the 
ConsDistList. The student is not on the NHCOLL listserv so 
please be sure to include Erin in your reply.

Thanks,
Cindy
=============================================================================================================================================

From: Erin Chapman <erchapman75 at yahoo.com.au>
Subject: Recrystallizing naphthalene on natural history 
specimens

I am a Masters student at the University of Melbourne in 
Australia. My minor thesis topic is the preparation, 
storage, and care of the Queensland Museum's Bat 
Collection. The bats in the Queensland Museum collection 
were collected to be used for research purposes, and as
such, are not used for display within the museum. A large 
number of the bats exhibit a white crystalline powder on 
the outer surface of their skin, particularly around the 
legs and wings. The substance does not seem to be 
deleterious to the specimens. Preliminary examination and
research into this problem indicates that the substance is 
more likely to be a re-crystallisation of naphthalene.

I am looking for any information other conservators may 
have regarding this problem. Has anyone seen this type of 
accretion before? Has anyone treated this type of problem 
in the past? Has anyone noted a similar problem with the 
use of naphthalene in natural history collection storage?

Initially, I thought the powder may be arsenic or borax 
(also commonly used in natural history specimen 
preparation at the Queensland Museum) though I did some 
testing (including the Merck spot test), and the levels of 
arsenic were unsubstantial. In fact, they were barely
recognisable. I have since done a melting point test, and 
the results were comparable with a control test of pure 
naphthalene. I am waiting to do more organic tests...

Erin Chapman
PO Box 2067
Kelvin Grove 4059
Brisbane, Queensland
Australia
Phone: 0403 264 201
Email: erchapman75 at yahoo.com.au



Cindy Ramotnik
U.S. Geological Survey
Department of Biology
MSC03 2020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
505-277-5369