[Nhcoll-l] Arsenic testing and general safety standards

Wed Feb 26 15:52:37 EST 2014

Hi Kristen, et. al.,

Both Fran and Matt make very good points.  We know these hazards are present, and it is our responsibility to protect ourselves, our staff and the public.  There are lots of ways to do this.  We tested our cleaning methods (wearing PPE) and found that even when cleaning arsenic laden taxidermy in open displays we were not breathing much arsenic - but we were breathing it (or would have been had we not been wearing our HEPA masks).  The good news is that the risk was virtually non-existent for the visitor - but we were up close and personal. Hence the PPE.  Our Health and Safety Officer insisted that we wear it.

I have been working with arsenic mounts for three decades.  At one institution, I briefly worked with a technician who was responsible for maintaining taxidermy and study skin collections. She was not wearing her PPE (this was before the concern was wide spread), even though I had recommended it.  She had to leave the field because of dermatitis and related problems.  We are all individual - and some of us are more sensitized than others to these hazards. And we are the ones handling the collections.

Arsenic has been applied to specimens in any number of ways-  ranging from the arsenic soaps to dusting specimens. And there are other pesticides that we might not be aware of. We need to be careful.  It is our health that is at risk.   There are many hazards when working with natural history collections - some applied by our predecessors and others, like radon, inherent to the specimens.   It is worth it to take the precautions.   Wear PPE.

Gretchen Anderson
Conservator
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
5800 Baum Blvd
Pittsburgh, PA 15202
Phone (412)665-2607
Andersong at CarnegieMNH.org<mailto:Andersong at CarnegieMNH.org>
http://www.carnegiemnh.org

From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Fran Ritchie
Sent: Wednesday, February 26, 2014 2:53 PM
To: Brown, Matthew A
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Arsenic testing and general safety standards

Hi Kirsten,

I can see their point--since we're not the ones applying the arsenic anymore, the dangers are quite different than in the past.  I worked in one museum where specimens on open display had arsenic and we weren't concerned for the public safety because they weren't licking them (or, uh, well, they weren't supposed to be).  The risk was so small.

However, I've also worked with collections that had a variety of pesticides added and I developed rashes on exposed areas of skin.  I don't think that it harmed me in the long run, but I had to suit up each day in lab coat, gloves, and tyvex sleeves (I had been missing the sleeves the day of the rashes).

Even Montagu Browne, a taxidermist who wrote practical manuals in 1884 and 1896 discouraged the use of arsenic because even "a single particle under a fingernail will aggravate" (pg 64).  He also was skeptical that adding arsenic would deter pests.  He was right--although many collections are pristine because of pesticides, I have seen an entire (forgotten about) collegiate ornithology collection eaten, despite the fact that the remains tested positive for arsenic and mercury.

I'll still wear my PPE.

Fran

[references: Browne, Montagu. 1884. Practical Taxidermy: a manual of instruction to the amateur in collecting, preserving, and setting up natural history specimens of all kinds. To which is added a chapter upon the pictorial arrangement of museums. London: L. Upcott Gill, London and County Printing Works. (Available on-line http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26014/26014-h/26014-h.htm#Toc178253673)
Browne, Montagu. 1896. Artistic and Scientific Taxidermy and Modeling: a manual of instruction in the methods of reserving and reproducing the correct form of all natural objects, including a chapter on the modeling of foliage. London: Adam and Charles Black.]

On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 1:58 PM, Brown, Matthew A <matthewbrown at utexas.edu<mailto:matthewbrown at utexas.edu>> wrote:
Related to Kirsten's question, I've recently had similar conversations with our Environmental Health and Safety people regarding radon exposure. Radon test kits placed in some of our cabinets have yielded test results 60x EPA action levels. Yet, when our Radiation Safety office came out to look at it, the inspector had virtually no concerns. He stated that we'd have to live in the cabinet before he'd be worried about it. That didn't really reassure me, but seems to be the consensus among our EHS team. I still ask my staff to take reasonable precautions when working with hot material.

Best,

Matt

Matthew A. Brown
Laboratory Manager, Vertebrate Paleontology Collections
Lecturer, Department of Geosciences
The University of Texas at Austin
R7600, Austin, TX 78758
Lab:(512)232-5516<tel:%28512%29232-5516>
Office:(512)232-5515<tel:%28512%29232-5515>
matthewbrown at utexas.edu<mailto:matthewbrown at utexas.edu>
webspace.utexas.edu/mab4775/www<http://webspace.utexas.edu/mab4775/www>

On Feb 26, 2014, at 8:10 AM, Kirsten Nicholson <norops at gmail.com<mailto:norops at gmail.com>> wrote:

> I have a related question to this arsenic thread. Our OSHA and Safety people on campus told me when we were arsenic testing and had concerns that there is very little information available on dermal toxicity of arsenic. In their minds, therefore, since we weren't using it ourselves or at risk of ingesting it or inhaling it, then there wasn't much concern from their standpoint. I mentioned that (at that time) we had discovered some contaminated specimens in our teaching collection (they were enclosed in tubes, but still; we've replaced them with clean specimens) and that we were concerned that folks might handle the birds and then either eat afterwards or whatever, and they seemed relatively unconcerned, claiming that an individual would have to consume a large amount of arsenic to be affected.
>
> Can anybody speak to this? Clearly we're all concerned in the museum world for containing affected specimens, yet our health officials really aren't concerned.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kirsten
>
>
> On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 9:21 AM, Lena Hernandez <LHernandez at themosh.org<mailto:LHernandez at themosh.org>> wrote:
>
>
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> Recently I attempted testing for arsenic in the mounted specimens of our collection. My issues, that I hope some of you can help with, is that I am getting a negative result on specimens that I am sure have arsenic. Has anyone else run into this problem? If so how did you solve it? I am following the protocol developed by NPS in their Conserve-o-Gram 2/3 and using Hach's arsenic test kit, since the one recommended by NPS is no longer made. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Feel free to contact me off list if you would prefer.
>
>
>
>
>
> Lena Hernandez
>
> Collections Manager/Registrar
>
>
>
> Museum of Science and History
>
> 1025 Museum Circle
>
> Jacksonville, FL 32207
>
> (904)396-6674 x212<tel:%28904%29396-6674%20x212>
>
> lhernandez at themosh.org<mailto:lhernandez at themosh.org>
>
>
>
>
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> --
> Kirsten E. Nicholson, Ph.D
>
> Assoc. Prof. Biology          and       Curator of Natural History
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> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.

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NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
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mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.

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