[Histonet] VWR(R) Q path(R) Safesolv, Solvent Substitute

[Jay Lundgren]

I've used all of them and they work fine.  There's two flavors, one that
smells like bug spray (aliphatic hydrocarbons based) and the citrus kind.
If you have one of those people in your lab that freaks out about
fragrances (which is an actual, recognized psychosis, btw, it's called
hyperosmia and it can be a symptom of major psychological affective
disorders), they won't be able to enter the building if you switch to a
citrus based product.  Your blocks will still smell like oranges after
being cut and filed.

But anyway, both varieties work fine.  I saw the salesman for a citrus
based clearing agent drink some of it to demonstrate its non-toxicity once.

Neither type of xylene substitute is half as aggressive as xylene in
deparaffinization or clearing, so you'll have to (roughly) double your
deparaffinization and clearing times on the processor and stain line.
You're going to have to write and verify all new protocols for processing
and staining.

The hardest part is going to be convincing your Medical Director to
change.  Pathologists can be some of the most hidebound, unwilling to
change dinosaurs around.

As far as I know, you still have to keep some xylene in your lab,
unfortunately, because all the coverslipping media are either toluene or
xylene based.  Especially if you coverslip using an automated instrument,
as most of the manufacturers specify a particular coverslipping media.  So
you still have to keep a fume hood/ventilation over (or even better, under)
your coverslipping area.  Unless you wanted to coverslip with a water
soluble media, which is a pain, and not suitable for archival storage.
Maybe you can dilute xylene/toluene based media with xylene substitutes?  I
don't know, I've never tried.  You might be able to get away with it, but
it would invalidate your coverslipper warranty, if you had one.  There's
still going to be xylene/toluene off-gassing from your drying slides.
Someone tell me if they know of a non-xylene/toluene based coverslipping
media, besides water based ones, of course.

You didn't ask, but the formalin substitutes work fine also.  They take
about twice as long as formalin to fix a given specimen and are less
forgiving with thick sections, fatty sections, etc. But they do work, and
yield beautiful nuclear detail and prettier IHCs than 10% NBF.  Again, good
luck getting your pathologists to switch over.


The health and safety benefits of getting rid of xylene are obvious.  There
might also be a financial argument for switching to a xylene substitute, as
the cost of disposing of formalin and xylene in some locales is
becoming prohibitive.

Sincerely,

Jay A. Lundgren, M.S. HTL (ASCP)

On Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 1:53 AM Monica Aguilera via Histonet <
histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu> wrote:

> Hi!
>
> Does anyone have experience with xylene substitutes like this?
>
>
> https://es.vwr.com/store/product/16702338/vwr-q-path-safesolv-solvent-substitute
>
> Thanks!
>
> Mònica
>
> --
> Mònica Aguilera Pujabet, DVM, PhD
> Senior Research Officer
>
> Histopathology Facility
> Institute for Research in Biomedicine - IRB Barcelona
> Baldiri Reixac, 10
> E-08028 Barcelona - Spain
>
> Tel:  +34 934033776 <%2B34%20934020546>
> monica.aguilera at irbbarcelona.org <neus.prats at irbbarcelona.org>
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