[Histonet] Alcian Blue 8GX and S from someone who made it to sell

[Akemi Allison-Tacha]

FYI to those of you who are not in the loop.  Alcian
Blue has not been procured in it's natural form for
several years.  There were too many fatalities during
it's procurement from South America.  This came to my
attention in the late 90's.  

Anatech started creating it, in a synthetic form some
years ago. It was my understanding and I could be
wrong, that for awhile, Anatech was the only company
who produced Alcian Blue to pass the Biological Stains
Commission evaluation process. It is my understanding,
there is only a 8GS being made now.  Again, I could be
wrong. 

In the past few years, Dudley Chemical, Aldrich,
Sigma, EM Science and some Chinese companies were able
to produce synthetic Alcian Blue, although the dye
content varies with each companies submission. You
should always get a seal from the Biological Stains
Commission on each bottle of Alcian Blue powder.  If
the label is not on it, it has not passed their
evaluation process. This only means that it met it's
minimum standard.  The Commision will not divulge
actual test results.

When I started my R&D on Alcian Blue for Biocare,
Anatech had the highest dye content from the few
companies that sold it.  It is only my opinion, but
they still have the best on the market.

Akemi Allison-Tacha BS, HT (ASCP) HTL
President
Phoenix Lab Consulting & Staffing
Specializing in Histology, SS, IHC, & Microarray
Madison, WI
Tele: 	(925) 788-0900
E-Mail:	akemiat3377 <@t> yahoo.com