[NHCOLL-L:4052] RE: Fwd: [H&S] Fwd: Safe disposal of picric acid

Thu Oct 30 12:10:57 EDT 2008

Are you sure that it is picric acid and not Bouin's fluid?  Bouin's is a histological fixative composed of picric acid, formalin and glacial acetic acid.  As is evaporates, the picric acid can crystalize.  It still needs to be handled with care.

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Chief Registrar / Registraire en chef 
Canadian Museum of Nature / Musée canadien de la nature 

Tel: 613-364-4089 
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	-----Original Message-----
	From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Bryant, James
	Sent: October 30, 2008 11:36 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/> 

			This email and any attachments may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient any use, disclosure or reproduction of the contents is unauthorised. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender by return email. This email and any attachments should be scanned to detect any viruses and no liability for loss or damage resulting from the use of any attached file is accepted.

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