[Histonet] Re: Banana smelling chemical in our formalin

[Pamela Marcum]

I agree with Markus, someone may used amyl acetate and did not tell you.  If you have a reagent supplier who got hold of a bad batch of SDA reagent alcohol that was not a true combination of ethanol, methanol and isopropanol but a chemically denatured (for electronics or other manufacturing) grade it may have ethyl acetate in it.  I would start checking with my suppliers first as the cheaper grades of SDA are not suitable for Histology use.  They are attractive price wise if you don't know what you are buying or understand what is needed in Histology. 



Pam Marcum 

UAMS 





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Markus F. Meyenhofer" <micro <@t> superlink.net> 
To: "Adam ." <anonwums1 <@t> gmail.com>, "Patrick Laurie" <foreightl <@t> gmail.com> 
Cc: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu 
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 8:45:42 PM 
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Re: Banana smelling chemical in our formalin 

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 
>> > 
>> _______________________________________________ 
>> Histonet mailing list 
>> Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu 
>> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet 
>> 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Histonet mailing list 
> Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu 
> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet 
> 


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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Markus F. Meyenhofer" <micro <@t> superlink.net> 
To: "Adam ." <anonwums1 <@t> gmail.com>, "Patrick Laurie" <foreightl <@t> gmail.com> 
Cc: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu 
Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 8:45:42 PM 
Subject: Re: [Histonet] Re: Banana smelling chemical in our formalin 

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 
>> > 
>> _______________________________________________ 
>> Histonet mailing list 
>> Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu 
>> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet 
>> 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Histonet mailing list 
> Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu 
> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet 
> 


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