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

[Jay Lundgren]

Ay perdón, no conocía que ya existe el medio de montaje Q Path® Safemount
00647520 compatible con el sustituto.  Perfecto.

Atentamente,

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





On Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 12:07 PM Jay Lundgren <jaylundgren at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Histonet mailing list
>> Histonet at lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
>>
>