[Histonet] Schiff mystery

[Emily Sours]

Oh man, worst problem ever.
I hand wash our dishes and rinse them 12 times so we don't EVER have that
problem.

Emily

...the thrill of being close to that hidden knowledge. That's the way I feel
when I read Nabokov. Encrypted within his words, encoded indecipherably,
ambiguously, is the equivalent of the secret of lightning. Something akin to
the secret code of higher human consciousness, the DNA, the genome of
genius.
-Ron Rosenbaum


On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 8:06 AM, Haynes, MaryAnne <mahaynes <@t> cnmc.org> wrote:

> I experienced a similar problem about twenty years ago.  We determined
> it was residual soap on the glassware.  Glassware washer was not rinsing
> properly.
>
>
> Mary Anne D. Haynes, MBHA,  DLM, SLS(ASCP)
> Pathology Manager
> Children's National Medical Center
> Department of Anatomic Pathology
> 111 Michigan Ave NW
> Washington, DC 20010
> 202-476-4311 (office)
> 202 476-4030 (fax)
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Lee &
> Peggy Wenk
> Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 05:07
> To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
> Cc: 'Peggy Wenk'
> Subject: [Histonet] Schiff mystery
>
> Need the help of the Histonet chemistry gurus.
>
> This has happened the last 2 times the students and I made up Schiff.
> Two
> different set of students.
>
> We make up the Schiff, and use it the next day, and it works correctly
> (stains the glycogen in liver and neutral mucins in intestine a bright
> magenta). Store in refrig. 1 week later, when we go to stain fungus with
> PAS, the Schiff doesn't work. Try the same liver and small intestine
> controls. Doesn't work at all. No magenta, no pink, nothing on the
> slides.
>
> When going into the water rinse after Schiff, the water turns pink with
> the
> newly made Schiff, but 1 week later, there is no color change in the
> water
> rinse.
>
> When we make up the Schiff, we show the students the Schiff quality
> assessment, where we put a few drops of formaldehyde in it, and the
> Schiff
> changes to purple immediately. Works great newly made. One week later,
> when
> we can't get the Schiff to stain, there is no color change with
> formaldehyde. None.
>
> It is the same procedure we've been using for years to make up the
> Schiff.
> It is the same procedure our histology lab uses. Their Shiff lasts for
> months. Ours last for a few days.
>
> I think it might be one of our reagents is going bad. Histology lab has
> their own reagents, the School has our own.
> - The basic fuchsin is OK, as the Kinyoun works great.
> - The hydrochloric acid was taken from histology, so I'm guessing it's
> OK.
> - The charcoal is fairly new. Could that be the problem? Why?
> - We are using sodium metabisulfite, not sodium sulfite or sulfate. At
> least
> that's what the bottle says. Does this break down and go bad?
>
> Need all the help we can get. This is spooky, Halloween or no Halloween.
>
> Peggy Wenk, HTL(ASCP)SLS
> Schools of Histotechnology
> Beaumont Hospital
> Royal Oak, MI 48073
>
>
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