Re unexpected toxic materials in collections: my diploma work in
geological conservation at Cambridge centered on monitoring all kinds of
nasty emissions from innocent-looking mineral specimens (everything from
radioactivity to vapor-phase mercury). In surveying museums with
geological collections, I am amazed how often hazardous minerals are
present in the open; no tests and no thought of any tests...or no
awareness of either danger or testing methods.

The best isolation of valuable radon-emitting minerals is at the National
Museum of Wales, and Mike Lambert recently wrote an article on this for
_Collection Forum_ that is a great reference.

Arsenic is truly all over the place in natural history collections. Steve
Williams and Cathy Hawks wrote up the problem and some testing procedures
in _Leather Conservation News_ some years ago. There is also A Merck kit
that can be used to test swab samples for arsenic; I use this all the
time on old taxidermy and (gag) trophy mounts, as well as study skins.

There are also minerals (obviously) with arsenic, lead, etc.

I guess I am surprised that people who wouldn't dream of letting a
questionable artifact go on exhibit or be carelessly handled won't even
think about natural history specimens as having the same risks or need of
care and isolation.

If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. Good luck with your
session--sounds *very* useful.

Sally Shelton
Director, Collections Care and Conservation

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|                 San Diego Natural History Museum                      |
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