[Nhcoll-l] low temperature IPM treatment at scale

[Haff, Tonya (NCMI, Crace)]

Hi all,

We are currently starting a massive specimen move and IPM process for our move into our new building. We are using 40 foot freezer containers, which go down to -40C and up to 25C.  We have a few concerns, one being about the amount of condensation that is on the specimen crates when the containers are opened, post-freeze.

To give you some background - For our first batch (bones and pelts), we loaded crates of specimens  (from a climate controlled room onto a climate controlled truck) into a 40 ft (huge!) container. The crates were  wrapped and sealed in polyethylene plastic. The contents were frozen at -35C for 5 days, and were then taken back up to 0C in the container over 24 hours. When we opened the container the plastic surrounding the crates was very wet (see photo). There isn't any ventilation in the containers, so I know some condensation is to be expected, but we are wondering if any of you have had similar experiences, or have suggestions for minimising this? We are worried that we are bringing specimens up to temperature too abruptly...Our thoughts are that because we are creating such a huge 'ice brick' in a 40 foot container, we may need to be waiting much longer for the specimens to acclimate, including taking the container back up to ambient temperature instead of 0. We would also love suggestions on how one might ventilate a freezer container?

I can provide more details if that would be helpful.

Thanks so much!

Cheers,

Tonya


Tonya M. Haff
Collection Manager
Australian National Wildlife Collection
CSIRO
+61(0)419569109
https://www.csiro.au/en/about/facilities-collections/collections/anwc

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