[Nhcoll-l] Mastodon challenge

Fri Dec 21 09:06:24 EST 2018

Hello Karen,

it might be worth to investigate inasmuch the ethanol treatment Michelle 
suggested - or similar treatments - which help to oxidise the Urushiol 
at room temperature; oxidisation and subsequent polymerisation however 
is also described as first step in historic varnishes which may produce 
a (hard) lacquer layer. There are few sources on the web describing the 
oxidisation process even though this plant is not common in Europe, 
there might be more resources on the web in if you use an English based 
web-domain for the search (which don't show up here).

Might be worth to share your results in case your treatment is successful.

Best wishes
Dirk

Am 21.12.2018 um 13:52 schrieb Pinsdorf, Michelle:
>
> Hello Karen,
>
> Assuming that your mastodon specimens are sub-fossil (or at least 
> highly porous), they will be affected by soaking or large-volume 
> applications of water. Since the poison ivy would only have come in 
> contact with the surface of the specimens anyway, a drenching wouldn’t 
> be needed.
>
> Urushiol oil is soluble in ethanol, so an idea would be getting some 
> in a spray bottle and spritzing the surface of your specimens with 
> that, after matrix removal but prior to the application of adhesives 
> or stabilizers that would seal the oil in place on the specimen 
> surface. Acetone or rubbing alcohol may work as well. It would be 
> important to do this part under a fume hood, so that the vapors 
> wouldn’t be inhaled. The quick evaporation rate of the alcohol should 
> minimize the risk of damage to the specimens. If spraying the matrix 
> will make it ‘muddy’ and possibly stain or destabilize the fossils, 
> you could choose to remove the matrix and roots first before alcohol 
> treatment.
>
> Bagging the specimens may incur risk of them developing mold, 
> sprouting new growth from the roots, etc. if the specimens and matrix 
> contain moisture. Perhaps you weren’t planning on prepping and 
> stabilizing these specimens for curation in the near term anyway, but 
> urushiol can remain potent for years. I’m not aware if there may be 
> testing materials to determine if the oil has been successfully 
> removed from your specimens after treatment.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Michelle Pinsdorf
>
> *Michelle Pinsdorf*
>
> Vertebrate Fossil Preparator
>
> Department of Paleobiology
>
> *t*202.633.1356pinsdorfm at si.edu <mailto:pinsdorfm at si.edu>
>
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> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> *On Behalf Of 
> *Karen Morton
> *Sent:* Thursday, December 20, 2018 4:13 PM
> *To:* nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] Mastodon challenge
>
> Dear List Members,
>
> We recently received a collection of mastodon bones that were eroding 
> out of a hillside.  It turns out the area they were collected from was 
> completely surrounded with poison ivy.  We’d love to be able to 
> process them like every other donation, but we have already had one 
> person break out in a rash just from the initial hand-over. Does 
> anyone have any recommendations on how to care for these fossils 
> without endangering staff?  Should we just bag them up as is, label 
> the outside of the packaging, and put warning signs for future 
> reference (with the specimen AND in the database records)?  The bones 
> have not been cleaned up and clumps of dirt and roots are still mixed 
> in with them.
>
> Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thank you in advance.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> *KAREN MORTON*
>
> Collections Manager
>
> *Perot Museum of Nature and Science***
>
> *P*214.756.5722 | karen.morton at perotmuseum.org 
> <mailto:karen.morton at perotmuseum.org>
>
> 2201 N. Field Street, Dallas, TX 75201
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