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Sheila Please find my reply attached. Hope it is OK. I am not involved with ethnobotanical objects but I have lots of experience with minerals, rocks and meteorites. Cheers Peter Davidson Curator of Minerals National Museums Collection Centre 242 West Granton Road Edinburgh EH5 1JA 00 44 131 247 4283 [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: The Natural Science Collections Association discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sheila Banks Sent: 06 June 2013 15:36 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Hazardous substances in collections- survey Dear All, I am a postgraduate student at Northumbria University studying for the MA in Preventive Conservation and for my dissertation I am investigating the assessment and management of risks from hazardous substances in ethnobotanical objects. During the course of my research I will be undertaking a work placement at the Economic Botany Collection at Kew, where I propose to apply risk assessment methodology to a selection of objects within the collection which contain intrinsic hazardous substances. The overall aims of the research are to assess the “real risks” posed by the objects in the collection and to develop a pragmatic risk-based management strategy, including an action plan and appropriate protocols for their safe handling, storage and display. As part of the research process, I am interested in gathering information from other practitioners on how they manage hazardous substances in their own collections – in particular procedures for undertaking risk assessments, the data sources available and how useful they find these, how information is communicated to staff, the public and the emergency services and any problems/challenges encountered. I have therefore prepared a survey questionnaire, a copy of which is attached as a Word file. The survey contains 17 questions and should not take longer than about 20 minutes to complete. I would greatly appreciate it if you would contribute to my research by completing the questionnaire and/or by passing it on to any colleagues who may be interested. Whilst the final focus of my research will be on ethnobotanical objects, I would welcome responses from those working with other types of collection and objects containing either intrinsic or extrinsic hazardous substances, or both. I look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, if you have any queries regarding the questionnaire and/or my research, please feel free to contact me at: [log in to unmask] Many thanks for your help, Best wishes Sheila Banks Coming soon: Mary, Queen of Scots, 28 June-17 November 2013. www.nms.ac.uk/mary National Museums Scotland, Scottish Charity, No. SC 011130 This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the addressee please inform the sender and delete the email from your system. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of National Museums Scotland. This message is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. No liability is accepted for any harm that may be caused to your systems or data by this message.