[NHCOLL-L:4364] Re: how to dissolve and puffer paraformaldehyde in the field?

[Andries J. van Dam]

Dear Dirk.

I guess you have taken into account that you have to heat the water to at
least 60 degrees Celsius to depolymerise the paraformaldehyde. During
preparation, you might need well ventilated conditions to minimise health
risks.

Best regards,
 --
Andries J. van Dam, conservator

Associate scientist
Natural History Museum, London

Directory Board member ICOM-CC
Webmaster http://www.icom-cc.org

Director Alcomon Company
http://www.alcomon.com

Museum of Anatomy
Leiden University Medical Center
Postal zone T7-P
P.O. Box 9600 
2300 RC Leiden 
The Netherlands 
tel: +31 (0)71 526 9581
fax: +31 (0)71 526 8275
E-mail: A.J.van_Dam at lumc.nl
Visiting address: Hippocratespad 21, building 3

> From: Dirk Neumann <Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de>
> Reply-To: "Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de" <Dirk.Neumann at zsm.mwn.de>
> Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:59:11 +0200
> To: "NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu" <NHCOLL-L at lists.yale.edu>
> Subject: [NHCOLL-L:4363] how to dissolve and puffer paraformaldehyde in the
> field?
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> for our next field trip to Africa we are considering to fixate specimens
> with puffered paraformaldehyde solution; to carry cristalline
> paraformaldehyde is onboard of aircraft is  100 % conform with IATA
> regulations and thus avoiding difficulties of liquid formalin solutions
> (to carry solutions with concentrations < / = 10 % is uneffecetive in
> terms of fixations effort per carried quantity).
> 
> For puffering, the "Fish Collection Methods and Standards" recommend to
> puffer 16g paraformaldehyde with 4 g anhydrous sodium carbonate and
> dissolve in 400 ml distilled water to have a 10 % buffered formalin
> solution (refers to McAllister, 1965).
> 
> Do you have experiences with this method or are there any other methods
> to solve and puffer paraformaldehyde ?
> 
> Thanks for your comments & help
> 
> Dirk  
> 
> -- 
> Dirk Neumann
> 
> Tel: 089 / 8107-111
> Fax: 089 / 8107-300
> email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
> 
> Postanschrift:
> 
> Staatliche Naturwissenschaftliche Sammlungen Bayerns
> Zoologische Staatssammlung München
> Dirk Neumann, Sektion Ichthyologie / DNA-Labor
> Münchhausenstr. 21
> 81247 München
> 
> Besuchen Sie unsere Sammlung:
> http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
> 
> ---------
> 
> Dirk Neumann
> 
> Tel: +49-89-8107-111
> Fax: +49-89-8107-300
> email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de
> 
> postal address:
> 
> Bavarian Natural History Collections
> The Bavarian State Collection of Zoology
> Dirk Neumann, Section Ichthyology / DNA-Lab
> Muenchhausenstr. 21
> 81247 Munich (Germany)
> 
> Visit our section at:
> http://www.zsm.mwn.de/ich/
> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/private/nhcoll-l/attachments/20090624/7dbd69fd/attachment.html