〔報告〕動物剥製標本におけるヒ素化合物の残留について

It is generally known that arsenic compounds (arsenic trioxide or arsenous acid) were used as a preservative in the manufacturing process of taxidermy in the past. In Japan, taxidermy specimens have been manufactured since the 1860’s. A manual for manufacturing taxidermy specimens published in 1931 points out that, for academic taxidermy specimens, applying arsenous acid on the inner side of the skin has a good preservative effect. More recently, a manual published in 1959 points out that, except by professional taxidermists, boric acid should be applied instead of arsenic acid because of its low toxicity. These literatures suggest that arsenic compounds were applied to many of the taxidermy specimens which were manufactured before the 1960’s in Japan. Thus,traces of arsenic compounds remaining is a big issue for museums, from the point of view of exhibiting taxidermy collections, especially if they can be touched by visitors. Arsenic compounds remaining in taxidermy specimens which are stored at Mie Prefectural Museum were analyzed with a portable X-ray fluorescence analyzer. One hundred and twelve mammal taxidermy specimens were measured, and arsenic was detected from 32 of them. Arsenic was detected from 87% of the taxidermy specimens manufactured before the 60’s and 25% of those manufactured from the 70 to 80’s, but 0% from those of the 90’s onward. This result indicates that it is necessary to be careful when choosing old taxidermy specimens for hands-on exhibition, and to execute strict management and registration at storages in museums.