"The poison is in the dose." -- Theophrastus Paracelsus
Industrial quantities of many chemicals can be dangerous.  Laboratory
quantities are less dangerous.  Gas station attendants have a real risk of
getting cancer from the potentiation of unknown carcinogens by the benzene
in the gasoline fumes.  Folks who pump their own have virtually no risk of
getting cancer this way because they are exposed for only a few minutes a
week.
If you work in an open lab with large quantities of chloroform every day
(e.g., purifying methyl green), you have a rather high risk of cirrhosis or
even hepatic cancer.  If you work in a fume hood, your risk becomes quite
tolerable.  If you use a few ml of Carnoy's fluid once a week or if you use
more in a fume hood, the risk is negligible.
Bearnaise sauce is known to be carcinogenic.  If you consume it every day,
you have something approaching a 1% risk of getting hepatic cancer from it.
If you consume it once a month, your risk decreases to around 1 in
10,000,000.

Allen A. Smith, Ph.D.
Professor of Anatomy
Barry University School of Graduate Medical Sciences
Miami Shores, Florida

----- Original Message -----
From: Jasper, Thomas <TJasper@smdc.org>
To: 'Charles.Embrey' <Charles.Embrey@carle.com>
Cc: <histonet@pathology.swmed.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 12:04 PM
Subject: RE: lymph node revealing solution


> Dear Charles, There is a big difference between Pop-Tarts and chloroform.
I
> understand we all live and work with a certain amount of risk, however I
> feel some things should be eliminated from our work environments if
> possible. We use a B-5 substitute for our lymph nodes. I can't say if it
is
> a revealing solution or not, but it works for us.
>
> Thomas Jasper HT(ASCP) BAS
> Histology Team Leader
> SMDC Clinical Laboratory
> Duluth, MN
> jaspert@smdc.org
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Charles.Embrey [SMTP:Charles.Embrey@carle.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 8:30 AM
> To: 't.hacker@har.mrc.ac.uk'
> Cc: 'histonet@pathology.swmed.edu'
> Subject: RE: lymph node revealing solution
>
> I'm sure the Pop-Tart I had for breakfast wasn't good for me either.
> Lets
> face it most of the chemicals we use (including water) will
> eventually be
> listed as hazardous.  Each time we boot a beloved chemical out our
> job
> becomes just a little harder.  Besides I think the Chloroform smells
> neat.
> (strickly a personal opinion.....)
> Charles R. Embrey Jr., PA(AAPA), HT(ASCP)
> Histology Supervisor
> Carle Clinic
> Urbana, IL
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: t.hacker@har.mrc.ac.uk [mailto:T.Hacker@har.mrc.ac.uk]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2001 3:13 AM
> To: Charles.Embrey
> Cc: 'Histonet'
> Subject: RE: lymph node revealing solution
>
>
> Date sent:      Mon, 23 Apr 2001 15:59:06 -0500
> From:           "Charles.Embrey" <Charles.Embrey@carle.com>
> Subject:        RE: lymph node revealing solution
> To:             "'LINDA GORMAN'" <lgorman1@kumc.edu>
> Copies to:      "'Histonet@pathology.swmed.edu'"
> <Histonet@pathology.swmed.edu>
>
> > Linda's right.  It's the real (original) Carnoy's Fix.  I use it
> and it's
> > great:
> > Acetic Acid   10ml
> > 100% ETOH     60ml
> > Chloroform    30ml
> Carle Clinic
> > Urbana, IL
> >
>
>
> I am sure it is, but you should seriously consider finding an
> alternative to using chloroform. This is a suspect carcinogen in
> man and really should not be used. I wouldn't like to see this
> fixative come back into general use, and as with mercury
> containing fixatives,should be one for the history books.
> Terry Hacker,
> Medical Research Council,
> Harwell,
> Didcot,
> Oxfordshire, OX11 ORD
> 01235 834393 x360
>
>