Dry Bones

[jerryyu]

A project I'm working on required the maintenance of dry bones over a long period of times (actually as long as possible). But one of the problem that came up was after a few days, the bones started to smell. Is there anyways I can prevent or stop the smell? Also will molds grew on the dry bones?

[jerryyu]

recently I read an article about students from 1995 using activated-carbon to diminish the bad smell of water that just went through defluoridation(using bone char). Can I also use activated-carbon to diminish the bad odor of dry bones?

[Schrödinger's hat]

Activated charcoal is used as a filter to absorb things (such as odour molecules) that pass through it. I do not know how to fix your odour problem, but things you could try are:

Filter the air (I do not know how well charcoal works as an air filter, but if it were useful, this would be where).

Keep the bones very dry and/or cold. This tends to reduce the amount of volatile substances that can enter the air (I do not know how this will effect the bones for the purposes of your project).

Many substances such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) will react with many molecules that smell bad to us. Leaving a tub of this present in the area with the bones (or filtering the air through it) may reduce the odour.

What properties of the bones need to be maintained? Treating them with a preservative, or coating them with something may be an option.

[jerryyu]

Activated charcoal is used as a filter to absorb things (such as odour molecules) that pass through it. I do not know how to fix your odour problem, but things you could try are:

Filter the air (I do not know how well charcoal works as an air filter, but if it were useful, this would be where).

Keep the bones very dry and/or cold. This tends to reduce the amount of volatile substances that can enter the air (I do not know how this will effect the bones for the purposes of your project).

Many substances such as sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) will react with many molecules that smell bad to us. Leaving a tub of this present in the area with the bones (or filtering the air through it) may reduce the odour.

What properties of the bones need to be maintained? Treating them with a preservative, or coating them with something may be an option.

I needed to maintain the piezoelectric properties of the bones, which is due to the collagens. So basically I need to maintain the collagen in the bones . I don't really know much about the types of preservative I should use, or the coating. It will be nice if you can give me some suggestions

[Schrödinger's hat]

I needed to maintain the piezoelectric properties of the bones, which is due to the collagens. So basically I need to maintain the collagen in the bones . I don't really know much about the types of preservative I should use, or the coating. It will be nice if you can give me some suggestions

 

Well if it smells bad, chances are fairly good that something is eating the organic molecules so you probably want to preserve it for the sake of the experiment as much as keeping the smell away. Biology is not my strong point so take any suggestions I make with the utmost scepticism.

 

A removable coating could be effective, stopping oxygen from getting to them will slow decay and a barrier will stop the smell from getting out. A wax (something like paraffin, as it is amorphous one would assume piezoelectric properties would be weak) might work, or possibly something water soluble -- presumably re-washing the bones is acceptable. If it is something water soluble it may be important to ensure it dries properly. I know collagens will leech out of bone into water (esp hot water -- mmmm soup).

 

If handling them is not too much of a problem, you could go for something near-universally toxic, but unreactive, such as arsenic or mercury. Or something based on a specific chemical mechanism (a specific antibacterial compound and a fungacide). Many general-purpose preservatives are quite reactive (I know alcohols denature larger proteins, I do not know how they effect smaller molecules).

 

Again, freezing comes to mind. I believe it does not harm proteins much, and if the bones are already quite dry then you shouldn't have to worry about water doing damage as it crystalises.

 

One thing that may help and is quite simple is to keep the humidity down. Buy a tub of silica beads and place it in the container. The less water in the environment, the fewer things that can live.

 

This is about as much help as I can give, other than suggesting you ring a nearby museum.

[John Cuthber]

"If handling them is not too much of a problem, you could go for something near-universally toxic, but unreactive, such as arsenic or mercury."

The reason they are toxic is because they are reactive.

On the other hand, I'm sure you are right about something "eating" the bones and what they will be eating is the collagen as much as anything else.

 

The only way I can think of to preserve the bones without destroying the collage would be to dry them fully. Not just leaving them open to the air, but placing them in a sealed container with a strong drying agent. (freshly baked-out silica gel would be one of the best options- it's cheap clean and fairly good at the job).

Putting some activated charcoal in the desiccator might get rid of the smell.

Anyway,, if these bones smell then they are already not the same as they used to be. You might want to start again.

[Schrödinger's hat]

"If handling them is not too much of a problem, you could go for something near-universally toxic, but unreactive, such as arsenic or mercury."

The reason they are toxic is because they are reactive.

On the other hand, I'm sure you are right about something "eating" the bones and what they will be eating is the collagen as much as anything else.

 

The only way I can think of to preserve the bones without destroying the collage would be to dry them fully. Not just leaving them open to the air, but placing them in a sealed container with a strong drying agent. (freshly baked-out silica gel would be one of the best options- it's cheap clean and fairly good at the job).

Putting some activated charcoal in the desiccator might get rid of the smell.

Anyway,, if these bones smell then they are already not the same as they used to be. You might want to start again.

 

Well I meant relatively unreactive compared to say, bleach. I should pick my words better.

I was under the impression that arsenic (and most heavy metals) are toxic because they will substitute in reactions where other elements (ie. phosphorus) are required for the organism to function.