[Nhcoll-l] [EXT] Best packing material for moving of wet collection jars

[Jean-Marc Gagnon]

Beth,

I am sure others will chime in. Some may not agree with what I am stating below.
This will hopefully result in a quick solution for you.

Most of us have moved away from using vermiculite all together.
Of course, there always remain the uncertainty of contamination of vermiculite by asbestos.
But setting that aside, using vermiculite is so messy that you'll spending many, many hours cleaning everything afterwards, from jars and lids to bins, to anything else that will come in contact with it. and you'll want to protect your eye, and wear masks and gloves...
Just not worth the hassle.

We used the same movers' bins but instead, we used the movers' blankets to pad and protect the jars. They have the same property of absorbing any fluid leaks/spills/breakage/ and are reusable.

The TDG regulations simply requires sorbent material that can absorb enough of the volume of liquid within the bin to make it safe.; blankets can certainly absorb a few litres.

I hope that helps.

Jean-Marc


Jean-Marc Gagnon, Ph.D. (he/him/his) (il/lui)
Curator, Invertebrate Collections / Chief Scientist
Conservateur, Collection des invertébrés / Expert scientifique en chef
Canadian Museum of Nature / Musée canadien de la nature

613 364 4066
613 851-7556 cell
613 364 4027 Fax
jmgagnon at nature.ca<mailto:jmgagnon at nature.ca>
https://nature.ca/en/research-collections/science-experts/jean-marc-gagnon

Adresse postale / Postal Address:
Canadian Museum of Nature     / Musée canadien de la nature
P.O. Box 3443, Sta. D   / Casier Postal 3443, Succ. D
Ottawa, ON K1P 6P4                / Ottawa, ON K1P 6P4
Canada                         / Canada

Adresse de livraison / Courier Address :
1740 Pink Road, Gatineau, QC, J9J 3N7


From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Elizabeth Wommack
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2023 7:03 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [EXT][Nhcoll-l] Best packing material for moving of wet collection jars

COURRIEL EXTERNE. Ne cliquez sur aucun lien ou pièce jointe à moins que vous ne connaissiez l'expéditeur.
EXTERNAL EMAIL. Do not click any links or attachments unless you know the sender.
The UWYMV has to do an emergency move of its wet collection to accommodate construction in the museum building.

We are working with our Safety Office to make sure the fluid specimens will be stored as safely as possible. The current plan is to package up each shelf into hard sided moving boxes, fill the space inbetween jars with vermiculite, and store the collection in the flammable liquid storage building until construction is completed.

I have read both Simmons 2014 and Coetzer et al. 2009, as well as gone through SPNHC's documentation on moving of collections. With our very limited time we will do the best we can for inventory, and make sure each jar is topped off before it goes into a box.

I could not find recommendations on boxing and packing material for movement of whole jars of fluid specimens however. Vermiculite was the recommendation of our Safety Office, since that is how they transport jars of chemicals safely. Does anyone know of adverse affects from vermiculite or a better easily accessible storage material we should be using?

Any thoughts and recommendations greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Beth Wommack

Elizabeth Wommack, PhD
Curator and Collections Manager of Vertebrates
University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates
Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY 82071
ewommack@<mailto:ewommack at berkeley.edu>uwyo.edu<http://uwyo.edu/>
pronouns: she, her, herself
www.uwymv.org<http://www.uwymv.org/>
UWYMV Collection Use Policy<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zH0_rDHQmerM4ZU7k2wu8UmRha6aC1Yo/view?usp=share_link>
[https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4wzeBAm3ZshQCDFzQ5wkSAIelZLntGMwLQ0l3OaxGfoFH4PEQ-tYzlg1s7X9ScKxz1dFEGIXS8]

[https://www.nature.ca/sites/all/themes/realdecoy/images/splash/splash-logo.jpg] <https://nature.ca/>

Saving the World with Evidence, Knowledge and Inspiration. (click to learn more)<https://nature.ca/en/about-us/museum-corporation/mission-mandate>
Sauver le monde avec des preuves, des connaissances et de l'inspiration. (cliquez pour en savoir plus)<https://nature.ca/fr/sujet-musee/mission-organisation/mission-organisation>

cmnEmailFooterDefault.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20230619/94166aae/attachment.html>