[Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] ductless fume hoods?

[Simon Moore]

Hi Cindy,

I used to use a Bigneat bench top fume hood when at the NHM for slide mounting (xylene fumes) and it worked quite well but not nearly as effectively as a flow bench which drew the fumes backwards away from my face.  This meant that I could place something in formalin right below my face and not smell a thing, nor did my eyes react adversely either.  Really effective as it didn’t draw the fumes upwards at all which has always been the fault with many extractors.  Obviously it required ducting but well worth the expense, convenience and, above all, prevented my ingesting any nasty fumes at all !

With all good wishes, Simon

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian.

www.natural-history-conservation.com


> On 7 Aug 2024, at 02:09, Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace) <Tonya.Haff at csiro.au> wrote:
> 
> Hi Cindy,
>  I would second Dirk in saying that the ductless fume hoods aren’t great, in my experience, and I would try to lobby hard for a ducted fume hood. We purchased a ductless fume hood to use in addition to a ducted fume hood for work on formalin-preserved animals and for similar activities to which you described. It was fitted with formaldehyde and carbon filters, but the room would still end up smelling like formalin after a while. On the one we have there is only one level of airflow. The  ‘sash’ just folds up and down but can’t be adjusted very low. This is marketed as a great and modern ductless fume hood, but it just feels a bit rickety. It got us through what we needed to do, but basically everyone always preferred to use the ducted hood, and it feels much safer to use.
>  Cheers,
>  Tonya
>  From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Dirk Neumann
> Sent: Wednesday, August 7, 2024 5:16 AM
> To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] [EXTERN] ductless fume hoods?
>  Hi Cindy,
>  invertebrate colleagues used a ductless fume in Munich for sorting mainly formalin specimen that we returned from field work; there we not many pros, mostly cons: depending on the design (how open or closed the hood actually is), you have (or don't have) a sufficient and direct air flow (the latter being more important for the hood to work efficiently). The other main problem was the weak filter/air flow: because it was a small transportable hood, the filter and thus the surface of the filter was small as well, which limited capacity of the possible air flow.
>  I would assume that if you work with materials that are really smelly and oozing, it is worth keeping a keeping a close eye on the air flow and if the fume hood is capable to cover a volume of roughly 1 cubic meter.
>  The German manufacturer Denios provides good guidance on air flow etc.
>  Hope this is useful
> Dirk
>   Am 06.08.2024 um 20:01 schrieb Opitz, Cindy E:
>  Hello! We are planning some lab renovations and are considering a ductless (filter-based) fume hood. A ducted chemical fume hood in this lab would require the addition of an industrial air handler, which makes the project cost-prohibitive. Our activities include animal maceration and pickling/tanning, so they are more smelly and less chemical in nature. We occasionally use ethanol under the hood, for rehousing or topping off jars in the wet collection. Our campus EHS staff have suggested a ducted fume hood would not be necessary for these kinds of activities. I’d like to hear from anyone about their recommendations or experiences (good or bad) with ductless, filter-based fume hoods in animal prep labs
>  Cindy Opitz (she/her)
> Director of Research Collections
> Museum of Natural History and Old Capitol Museum
> Instructor, Museum Studies Certificate Program
> The University of Iowa
> 11 Macbride Hall, Iowa City, Iowa 52242
> Office: 319.335.0481
> cindy-opitz at uiowa.edu
> mnh.uiowa.edu, oldcap.uiowa.edu<image001.png>  
> 
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>  Dirk Neumann
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> Stiftung Leibniz-Institut zur Analyse des Biodiversitätswandels
> Postanschrift: Adenauerallee 127, 53113 Bonn, Germany
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> Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts;
> Generaldirektion: Prof. Dr. Bernhard Misof (Generaldirektor), Adrian Grüter (Kaufm. Geschäftsführer)
> Sitz der Stiftung: Adenauerallee 160 in Bonn
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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.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.