Denatured alcohols

Following my previous post regarding the application process for a
licence to purchase Industrial Denatured Alcohol (IDA) from HMRC in
the UK, I thought it might be useful for other conservators also
looking to get a licence to know the outcome.

HMRC had questioned why I could not just use Completely Denatured
Alcohol (SAD), and were insistent on a solid reason.  Advice I
received from several other professionals, all indicated that in
essence the purity of IDA is what makes it suitable and preferable
over SAD.

CDA (which now actually has a new recipe as of July 2013 of 100
parts ethanol, 3 parts isopropanol and 3 parts methylethylketone and
denatonium benzoate) could in theory be suitable for conservation,
but the effects of denatonium benzoate are unknown, it could
potentially be harmful and might be retained in objects.  Therefore
it can be argued CDA should not be used.

The small amounts required (less than 20 litres per year) and the
nature of conservation work (scientific/educational etc), are also
reasons that can back up any application, as these are stated as
requirements within HMRC's own excise notice (Sections 7 and 8 of
Excise Notice 473).

I now have my licence, but should anyone else be looking to apply
for a licence and encounter any problems, I would suggest putting
forward the above reasoning.

It would be interesting to know if anyone else has encountered
problems with applying for a licence, or whether this was just an
isolated case.

Jillian Gregory
Paper Conservator


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 28:39
                  Distributed: Friday, March 13, 2015
                       Message Id: cdl-28-39-001
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