[Nhcoll-l] Arsenic testing and general safety standards
Kirsten Nicholson
norops at gmail.com
Wed Feb 26 15:58:54 EST 2014
I hear you, Gretchen, and agree. That's what I find really perplexing - the
apparent lack of concern regarding safety by some folks. But I took it
originally as "I must be wrong or overblowing the issue", but now I'm not
so sure. Just wish I could reconcile the approach. We have someone here
that just became sensitized to formalin and being anywhere NEAR some of it
has nearly catastrophic effects to her life. So I agree its probably best
to (a) know what hazards you have in the collections, (b) always protect
yourself with PPE (you might not be sensitive now, but you never know and
you don't want to find out the hard way), and (c) if possible, quarantine
your collections for possibly contaminated clean specimens.
Thanks all for your comments and I'm looking forward to hearing any more
that folks have to offer!
Kirsten
On Wed, Feb 26, 2014 at 3:52 PM, Anderson, Gretchen <
AndersonG at carnegiemnh.org> wrote:
> 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 <%28412%29665-2607>*
>
> *Andersong at CarnegieMNH.org <Andersong at CarnegieMNH.org>*
>
> *http://www.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>
> 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
> Office:(512)232-5515
> matthewbrown at utexas.edu
> webspace.utexas.edu/mab4775/www
>
>
>
> On Feb 26, 2014, at 8:10 AM, Kirsten Nicholson <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>
> 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
> >
> > lhernandez at themosh.org
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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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.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Kirsten E. Nicholson, Ph.D
> >
> > Assoc. Prof. Biology and Curator of Natural History
> > Dept. of Biology Museum of Cultural and
> Natural History
> > 217 Brooks Hall 103 Rowe Hall
> > Central Michigan Univ. Central Michigan University
> > Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859
> > 989-774-3758 989-774-3829
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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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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> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
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> society. See http://www.spnhc.org for membership information.
>
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> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
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>
>
--
Kirsten E. Nicholson, Ph.D
*Assoc. Prof. Biology and Curator of Natural HistoryDept. of
Biology Museum of Cultural and Natural
History217 Brooks Hall 103 Rowe HallCentral
Michigan Univ. Central Michigan University Mt. Pleasant, MI
48859 Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859989-774-3758
989-774-3829*
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