[NHCOLL-L:4619] Pigma inks in alcohol

[Paul Callomon]

Folks,
 
Clearing out some back corners of the collection, I found several tubes of 70% ethanol containing ink durability tests that one of my predecessors started. Messages had been written using Pigma Micron pens onto labels made from our regular collection label paper (laundry tag paper), which were then immersed in the alcohol. Here are the results:
 
Pigma green ink: still legible with apparently no leaching into the alcohol since 05 May 1993
Pigma blue ink: still legible with apparently no leaching into the alcohol since 05 May 1993
 
There were two other tubes; one had leached all its red ink into the alcohol, leaving the label blank, and I thus could not tell what the ink was; the other was completely blank, with clear alcohol, and therefore might have been a control. 
 
Conclusions: Pigma ink is stable in 70% alcohol for at least 16 years. I'll update you in 2025, if I'm still alive. 
 
PC. 
 
 
Paul Callomon
Collections Manager
Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and General Invertebrates
Department of Malacology
Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
Tel 215-405-5096
Fax 215-299-1170
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