An historical review of taxidermy treatments shows that arsenic has been used in the preparation and conservation of specimens from the 18 th century until recent times. Two spot tests for arsenic detection have been tested and compared: the Weber's test and a kit developed by Macherey-Nagel. Stuffed birds from the Museum National d'Histoire Na- turelle, Paris and standard arsenical solutions were spot tested and results compared with those using Inductively Coupled Plasma Spectrometry (ICPMS). The spot tests compared well to the results using expensive equipment, are freely available, inexpensive and provide an adequate level of detection down to 20 ppm. All specimens should be monitored even those that test negative first time round. Institutions should be responsible for monitoring levels of arsenic in collections, use appropriate protection when handling all specimens and regularly update health and safety records.