[Nhcoll-l] Quarantine and methyl bromide

[Gali Beiner]

Hello Mazin,

The ban on methyl bromide came into effect quite a while back, and my MA
thesis as a student of conservation dealt exactly with the question of
available alternatives (the results were published in The Conservator vol.
29 issue 1 pp. 5-18 from 2010).

As I see it at the moment, the most viable (but not only) alternatives
include:

1. Freezing (according to specific protocols)
2. Anoxia (most often with CO2 but other gases are being used as well)
3. Fumigation with pyrethroids (considered to be relatively safe for
mammals, that is for humans).

There still is more research to do on possible effects on specific
collections, for example entomology collections, but all three methods are
in use as interventive means of pest control. The feasibilty of each one
depends on specific factors in each collection or institution. In our
collections, the herbarium and the mammal and bird collections are treated
by freezing (usually -40 degrees celsius) according to protocols published
in conservation research. Freezing was chosen because of ease of use, lack
of toxicity and lower cost compared with other methods. Limitations are
mainly related to the size of the freezer and the objects. I will be happy
to give more details on the exact protocol if this is of interest to you.

Hope this helps,

Gali Beiner (ACR)
Conservator, Palaeontology Lab
National Natural History Collections
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Berman Building, Edmond J. Safra campus, Givat Ram
Jerusalem 91904, Israel
Fax. 972-2-6585785
gali.beiner at mail.huji.ac.il
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__nnhc.huji.ac.il_&d=DwIBaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=b5k96LTmiCPY4Gh-LKez3l6HD69ubZXTTX-wfhj6_zE&s=-9cnejYL2tkAelqkPtOTwmerd19yD9LOgPqcUJjqEjM&e=
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