[Histonet] Gill's hematoxylin

[Wurdak, Elizabeth]

Hello Histonetters,
We have decided to switch from Harris' hematoxylin to Gill's to avoid using
mercury.  I have a couple of recipes for Gill's hematoxylin.  They both call
for aluminum sulfate and sodium iodate.  I have only ammonia alum,
NH4Al(SO4)2x12H2O, or potassium alum, KAl(SO4)2x12H2O and sodium periodate
on hand. Can I use these reagents instead and do I need to modify the
quantities of each.  The IHC World recipe requires 0.2g sodium iodate and
20g aluminum sulfate for 1020 ml of the single strength hematoxylin (2g)
solution.
Thanks for any help you can give me.
Liz

Elizabeth Wurdak, PhD
Biology Department
Saint John¹s University
Collegeville, MN 56321
Tel: (320) 363-3177



On 3/19/07 8:58 AM, "SHargrove <@t> urhcs.org" <SHargrove <@t> urhcs.org> wrote:

> Regarding the processing of prostate biopsies, We have a "short run" on one
> of the VIP's that we use for all biopsies. Our alcohols are graded from 70%
> - 100%.  We used to use sponges for ours and the pathologist thought it
> caused some breaking. Imagine the tissue bouncing off of the pores of the
> sponge. Now all needle biopsies are wrapped in paper before processing. We
> are having much better results .We still use sponges for biopsies. Be sure
> the sponges are saturated  with formalin before use, and they will not
> float.
> Susie Hargrove
> Tech Specialist Histology
> United Regional
> Wichita Falls, Texas
> 
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