[Histonet] Re: Banana smelling chemical in our formalin

[Adam .]

That wasn't formalin. It was Histologie for Men, the new banana-scented
cologne for histotechs.

But seriously, I guess it's formalin ethyl acetate, which smells vaguely
banana-like and is used for extraction of parasites from stool samples.

Adam

On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 4:56 PM, Patrick Laurie <foreightl <@t> gmail.com> wrote:

> > Histonet,
> >
> > We get a number of our specimens from outreach clients.  We received back
> > from one of our sites a jug of "Formalin" to be recycled.  However when
> it
> > was opened up it had a strong odor of bananas.  I know we shouldn't smell
> > the chemicals, but luckily this was caught before it was put through our
> > recycler.  I was wondering if anyone might have an idea what this could
> be?
> > Is there a manufacturer that adds an odor (like bananas) to their
> formalin?
> > Is it a strange solvent?  The idea of it being amyl acetate has been
> bounced
> > around, but I cannot see a histologic use for such a chemical.
> >
> > Thanks for your input.
> >
> > --
> > Patrick Laurie HT(ASCP)QIHC
> > CellNetix Pathology & Laboratories
> > 1124 Columbia Street, Suite 200
> > Seattle, WA 98104
> > plaurie <@t> cellnetix.com
> >
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