[Nhcoll-l] Arsenic testing

[Dietrich, Elizabeth]

Borax is not uncommon, but in comparison to all the other hazardous substances, much less of an issue.  It can be vacuumed with a HEPA-filtered vac.  Where gloves and a lab coat when handling.  Vacuum the work and storage surfaces and the floor rather than dusting or sweeping.

-----Original Message-----
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of m.kieron at musnathist.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 6:35 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Arsenic testing

We had a borax problem with several thousand birds in our collection. 
Back in the late 1960s the staff treated all the medium to large mounts with borax and there are still large accumulations of borax on the bases of the birds we have yet to clean. The protocol for treating the birds was too technical to have been conceived by the staff at the time so they must have gotten it from somewhere else. I'm surprised more museums do not have this problem.

-Mike K.

Michael W. Kieron
Curator
Museum of Natural History & Planetarium
Roger Williams Park
1000 Elmwood Avenue,
Providence, RI 02907
(401) 785-9457 x246
(401) 461-5146 (fax)
www.providenceri.com/museum


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