Adam,
    As interesting as the contents may be, if you are going to keep  
the bottles in your collection, you need to get rid of the contents.  
We had an incident a few years ago where our curator was exposed to  
some nasty chemicals that were part of a fall-out shelter portable  
toilet. We had some of our local haz mat firefighters come in and look  
at everything after that. Then we worked with the disposal people at  
our local landfill to properly get rid of the bad stuff. It's a long  
process, but it's worth it for the safety of staff and, potentially,  
visitors.

Heather McClenahan, executive director
Los Alamos Historical Society
http://www.losalamoshistory.org
[log in to unmask]
PO Box 43
1050 Bathtub Row
Los Alamos, NM 87544
505-662-6272 (office)
505-470-2912 (cell)





On May 12, 2011, at 12:03 PM, Larry Fisher wrote:

> I went through this with a medical chest for a chip's doctor. You  
> may wish to consult with a medical or hazardous waste disposal  
> company or even your local fire department (they may do it for you  
> as a training exercise). Most important, is that you may have a  
> bottle of Mercury or a Mercury-based medication in there. In today's  
> world, if you break a Mercury thermometer may have to bring in the  
> Haz Mat guys. Some 19th century treatments used acids as well so be  
> careful from that perspective. Also be carefull not to mix the  
> chemicals as you empty the bottles as some combinations can result  
> in deadly reactions. You're probably much better off dealing with  
> this now than having a safety problem in the future.
>
> Best of luck,
>
> On 5/12/2011 1:31 PM, Adam Johnson wrote:
>> Hello All!
>> I am volunteering at a local historical museum and am assisting  
>> with the implementation of an exhibit about early 19th century  
>> medicinal treatments. We have a large collection of apothecary  
>> bottles accessioned and would like to utilize them in the exhibit  
>> but many still retain their original liquids. As the museum staff  
>> does not want to keep the liquids in the bottles, I wanted to ask  
>> your opinion as to whether the liquids should be disposed of or  
>> not. If so, what would be the proper disposal methods?  
>> Additionally, are there materials which would be potentially  
>> hazardous that should not be emptied?
>>
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