[NHCOLL-L:4051] RE: Fwd: [H&S] Fwd: Safe disposal of picric acid

Thu Oct 30 12:04:51 EDT 2008

Picric acid (for example, Bouin's Solution) is an excellent fixative for
histology.

From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu]
On Behalf Of Bryant, James
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2008 8:36 AM
To: CAHawks at aol.com; NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:4050] RE: Fwd: [H&S] Fwd: Safe disposal of picric acid

Thank you all for the background on this preservative. I'm curious as to why
picric acid was ever used? It's new to me.

James M. Bryant

Curator of Natural History

Museum Department, City of Riverside

3580 Mission Inn Avenue

Riverside, CA 92501

(951) 826-5273

(951) 369-4970 FAX

jbryant at riversideca.gov

  _____  

From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu]
On Behalf Of CAHawks at aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 5:33 PM
To: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Subject: [NHCOLL-L:4048] Fwd: [H&S] Fwd: Safe disposal of picric acid

Catharine Hawks
Conservator
2419 Barbour Road
Falls Church VA 22043-3026 USA
t/f 703.876.9272 

  _____  

From: BallardM at si.edu
Reply-to: aic-health at lists.stanford.edu
To: aic-health at lists.stanford.edu
Sent: 10/29/2008 9:58:15 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: Re: [H&S] Fwd: [NHCOLL-L:4037] Safe disposal of picric acid

Common name: Picric Acid

Color Index Name Acid Yellow (no number)

C.I. Constitution Number: 10305 

Discovered by Woulfe, 1771.

Solubility: sparingly soluble in water (yellow); readily soluble in ethanol.

Toxicity information From NISax et al. Dangerous Properties of Industrial
Materials 6th ed. 1984 

Can cause allergic irritation as well as dermatitis. Sympoms of systematic
poisoning are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, yellow discoloration of skin &
convulsions, as well as stupor, skin eruptions, anemia, abdominal pain and
oligeria

Explosion hazard: dangerous when shocked or exposed to heat. Keep out of
contact with metals. Forms unstable salts with concrete, ammonia and bases.
Picric acid is a more powerful explosive than TNT.

Disaster hazard: highly dangerous, shock will explode it on decomposition it
emits highly toxic fumes and explodes. Can react vigorously with reducing
materials. 

If you want to know what it looks like it's 2,4,6 trinitrophenol.

Mary W. Ballard

Senior Textiles Conservator,

Museum Conservation Institute, Smithsonian Institution

4210 Silver Hill Road, Suitland MD 20746 U.S.A.

tel: 301-238-1210 fax: 301-238-3709 

email ballardm at si.edu

  _____  

From: aic-health-bounces at lists.stanford.edu
[mailto:aic-health-bounces at lists.stanford.edu] On Behalf Of CAHawks at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 9:22 PM
To: aic-health at lists.Stanford.edu
Subject: [H&S] Fwd: [NHCOLL-L:4037] Safe disposal of picric acid

Catharine Hawks
Conservator
2419 Barbour Road
Falls Church VA 22043-3026 USA
t/f 703.876.9272 

  _____  

From: Morris.Robert at saugov.sa.gov.au
To: NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu
Sent: 10/28/2008 3:52:59 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time
Subj: [NHCOLL-L:4037] Safe disposal of picric acid

Dear All,

We have a number of Helminth specimens housed in picric acid solution that
we would like to rebottle and store in a less volatile medium. The specimens
remain in solution but are housed in old food jars with metal lids. This
really is an OHS no no and one we need to address before the safety auditors
land on our doorsteps.  Although reasonably stable if left alone, our fear
is that by trying to unscrew the metal lids we may ignite the crystalline
form that may have formed on the underside of the lids. 

One thought would be to immerse the jars in a water tank and allow them to
slowly fill with water before attempting to unscrew the lids. Has anyone
encountered this problem and if so what methods did you adopt to safely
extract specimens from picric acid solution?

Any advice would be appreciated

  <file:///D:\My%20Documents\My%20Pictures\Email%20Logo.jpg> Robert Morris

Head of Collections

South Australian Museum

North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000

Tel. +61 (0)8 82077455, Fax. +61 (0)8 82077222

www.samuseum.sa.gov.au <http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/> 

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