[Nhcoll-l] FW: Glycerol as a safer alternative to ethanol for display specimens - Feedback from your practice?

[Chris Grinter]

Has anyone been looking into or testing the viability of
propylene glycol instead (PG)? Glycerol/glycerin may bind to chitin over
time.

I know some collections add PG to vials of ethanol to avoid dessication. It
appears to preserve DNA well and has a low cost, low flammability, etc.

Chris

Christopher C. Grinter
Senior Collection Manager of Entomology
Secretary, The Lepidopterists’ Society
Subject Editor: Lepidoptera, The Pacific Coast Entomological Society
California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Dr
San Francisco, CA 94118
T 415.379.5320
We regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and
collaboration.
Learn more at calacademy.org <http://www.calacademy.org/>
<https://www.instagram.com/calacademy/>


On Tue, Jun 24, 2025 at 10:18 AM Callomon,Paul <prc44 at drexel.edu> wrote:

> Another consideration is the optical clarity of glycerol versus ethanol,
> both initially and over time. These are display specimens, so it seems a
> good idea to ensure that whatever medium you use has full-spectrum
> visibility and is stable over time (and under lighting) in that regard.
> Also, exudates from the specimens (like lipids) might discolor different
> fluids to differing extents.
>
>
>
> *Paul Callomon*
> *Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates*
> ------------------------------
>
> *Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia*
> *callomon at ansp.org <callomon at ansp.org> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170*
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nhcoll-l mailing list
> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
>
> https://url.avanan.click/v2/r01/___https://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l___.YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YTpnOmFlNTZhNmVkYTBkNWMwNGMzNDNmYzc0ZDY0YzhhMTJmOjc6OTI1NDo3OGQ1MmIxYTkyZjYzNjM0NmE2ZWE5MGE0MTdhYmUyMDZhM2JhOGFhYzRjYjdlYmY3ZmM4MTJmM2Q5NzVjZjRkOnA6VDpO
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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
> https://url.avanan.click/v2/r01/___http://www.spnhc.org___.YXAzOmNhbGFjYWRlbXk6YTpnOmFlNTZhNmVkYTBkNWMwNGMzNDNmYzc0ZDY0YzhhMTJmOjc6Y2I3NjpkYmNiY2Q5MWQzOGJiYzc4ZTIzNjZhYjdlMDY3ZTA3ZTI0YjgzZDBkZjYzNmU0MzM2N2IyYTNkNTQwNzRiMWM1OnA6VDpO
> for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20250624/369c4f2a/attachment.html>