[NHCOLL-L:4368] RE: how to dissolve and puffer paraformaldehyde in the field?

[Moore, Simon]

My penny worth!

I too, have never used p-formaldehyde in this context but I do recall (Years ago!) a yellow powder called Dowicil, produced by Dow & Co.  It could be dissolved in sea or fresh water and a concentration of 10% gave a fixative solution and 5% gave a preservative.  Its properties were /(are?) that it releases formaldehyde in contact with protein.
I remember that there was some confusion over its use and it received a rather unfairly negative write-up.  I still have a semi-eviscerated mouse, which underwent fixation back in 1967 and preservation since that time.  Despite a slight fungal growth, noted in 2003 and a renewal of the solution, the mouse is still in good condition.
I don't know if Dowicil is still available or whether its formulation has changed.


With all good wishes, 
Simon Moore, MIScT, FLS, ACR,
Senior Conservator of Natural Sciences. 
Hampshire County Council,
Department of Culture, Communities and Rural Affairs,
Museums & Archives Service,
Chilcomb House, Chilcomb Lane,
Winchester SO23 8RD. UK.
Internal  8 327 6737
01962 826737
http://www.hants.gov.uk/museum/biology 



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu [mailto:owner-nhcoll-l at lists.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Dirk Neumann
Sent: 24 June 2009 07:59
To: 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  

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Dirk Neumann

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Dirk Neumann

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email: Dirk.Neumann(a)zsm.mwn.de

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