[Histonet] Re: Banana smelling chemical in our formalin

[Markus F. Meyenhofer]

It's Amyl Acetate.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Adam ." <anonwums1 <@t> gmail.com>
To: "Patrick Laurie" <foreightl <@t> gmail.com>
Cc: <histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu>
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 6:48 PM
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Re: Banana smelling chemical in our formalin


> 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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