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Re: medication bottles



Deridre,
 My experiences with this issue have not been helpful nor conclusive.  When
I worked at another medical college, I contacted the hospital hazardous
materials expert and he basically warned us to avoid opening all the 19th
century bottles and vials which we showed him.  He was of no help in
assisting us in the disposal of some contents (e.g., acids, formaldehyde,
unlabled) because we wanted the containers returned and they don't do that.
So I think you may be on untouched ground as far as best practices and
procedures go for this subject.
    Any medical museum folk out there to share their expertise with us?
    I recently met the dynamic Monona Rossol, President of Arts, Crafts &
Theater Safety (ACTS) in NY ACTSNYC@cs.com...she may be able to generally
advise or direct you to someone in your area.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
F. Michael Angelo
University Archivist and Special Collections Librarian
Thomas Jefferson University
Scott Memorial Library
1020 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA  19107
Phone:  215-503-8097
Fax:        215-923-3203
E-Mail: <michael.angelo@mail.tju.edu>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Deridre Routt" <archivist@OMAHAHISTORY.ORG>
To: <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2001 10:19 AM
Subject: medication bottles


I need some assistance from the list.

We just received a collection of materials from a local medical society and
included in this collection, to my surprise, are 18 "medication" bottles.
They contain a wide variety of materials from mecuriochrome to "green
pills" (for disenfecting)to potassium pomemgrate (I think I misspelled at
least that one)which is clearly labeled poison. The bottles range in size
from about the size of a little finger to one about 6 inches tall and 2-3
inches wide with a 1 inch mouth. I would hazard a guess that all of them
are 20th century, the labels are all printed and appear to have been mass
produced.

I am presuming that we should empty the bottles -- uh, yeah they are all at
least partially filled. Does anyone know of any good reason why we
shouldn't empty them? And what kind of precautions should we take? I guess
I should ask, should we keep them (actually, we may not have much choice on
that one given the way this donation works -- the archives did not become
involved in accepting this collection until late in the process) or return
them saying they are too dangerous?

If anyone has had experience with dealing with these kinds of materials we
would be very grateful for any kind of advice, or warnings or tips you
might have.

As I get the list in digest, feel free to respond to me personally but I
will post responses to the list.

Thank you very much in advance.

Deirdre Routt
Librarian/Archivist
Douglas County Historical Society
Library/Archives Center
5730 N 30 St #11B
Omaha NE 68111
(402)451-1013
archivist@omahahistory.org

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