Hello Susan,
I am working for more than ten years with medieval and modern cesspit
material without any problems. My main concern are not the "old" bacteria and
parasite ova but recent fungi when the samples are not stored under suitable
conditions. Many archaeologists do not deliver them directly to the lab but store
them in normal find magazins - recent fungi will appear quickly and may
produce harmful spores.
I always heat my samples in 5 % KOH (5-30 minutes, due to separation of the
lumps) which helps to separate the material, to dissolve humic components and
to avoid health hazards by recent bacteria and fungi. You just have to bear
the ugly smell...
Cheers
Julian
--
Dr. Julian Wiethold
dienstl.:
Archäologische und Paläontologische Denkmalpflege des
Landesamtes für Denkmalpflege Hessen
- Sachgebiet Naturwissenschaften -
Schloss Biebrich/Ostflügel
D-65203 Wiesbaden
Tel. 0049/(0)611/6906-212
Fax 0049/(0)611/6906-216
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