The PBMS Tissue Archive is a valuable resource. Archived samples are used to study chemical fate and behaviour, to trial new monitoring, and for a wide range of conservation-related studies. Many of these studies are conducted in collaboration with other research groups.
PBMS archived specimens are maintained at -18ºC in a freezer holding more than 37,000 samples (stored in jars and bags in numbered trays) that date back to the late 1960s.
Each specimen is recorded in the PBMS database, which records the tray number and shelf location within the archive for each sample. The carcass or egg reference number relates the sample to provenance, biometric and chemical residue data held on the PBMS database.