[Histonet] RE: Recycled Xylene on Tissue Processor

[Tony Henwood (SCHN)]

Hi Laurie,

We use recycled xylene and found that infrequently we may produce a poor quality xylene (often contaminated with xylene). This will affect tissue processing.

We regularly QC our recycled xylene using the CBG Biotech technique:

Testing Procedure

1.	To a clean, dry 100 ml mixing cylinder graduate, add sufficient recovered xylene so that the bottom of the meniscus is aligned with the top edge of the 85 ml mark on the graduate. 

2.	Add water to the graduate until the bottom of the meniscus aligns with the top edge of the 100 ml mark on the graduate. At this point, 15 ml of water will have been added to 85 ml of recovered xylene.

3.	Stopper the graduate and invert the mixture.  Allow the mixture to settle, making sure that all of the water settles to the bottom of the graduate.  No water should remain clinging to the sides of the graduate above the xylene/water separation point. This separation point should be near the 15 ml level of the graduate. (Note: xylene floats on top of the water).

4.	Carefully inspect and record the point of separation between the water and xylene using the bottom of the meniscus as the separation point.

5.	Subtract 15 ml from the quantity of water indicated in step 5.  The remainder plus an additional 0.1 correction factor equals the percentage of recovered xylene impurities.

	EXAMPLE:

Xylene/Water separation point is indicated to be 15.5 ml.
(15.5 - 15) + 0.1 = 0.6% impurities.  
Therefore, the recovered xylene is 99.4% pure.



Regards 
Tony Henwood JP, MSc, BAppSc, GradDipSysAnalys, CT(ASC), FFSc(RCPA) 
Laboratory Manager & Senior Scientist 
Tel: 612 9845 3306 
Fax: 612 9845 3318 
the children's hospital at westmead
Cnr Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead
Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145, AUSTRALIA 


-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Laurie Colbert
Sent: Thursday, 24 January 2013 5:56 AM
To: Histonet Post (histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu)
Subject: [Histonet] Recycled Xylene on Tissue Processor

Has anyone that uses recycled xylene on the tissue processor ever noticed that it dries out the biopsies (specifically GI bx's)??  We are having issues with the GI's being dried out, and I'm wondering if this may be the cause.

Laurie Colbert



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