actually.....if find it rather entertaining to do just that, on the
occassion that i break a mercury-containing thermometer.  of course, my
mouth is also full of mercury almalgam(sp?) fillings too.  i'm not in the
slightest bit concerned about that either.
as others have admitted, i have been coverslipping by hand, out of xylene,
for 20yrs now, will no ill effects.  and to really get everyone's knickers
in a twist, i did the same while pregnant, twice!  and have 3 perfectly
normal (if that can be said of the children carrying my husband's DNA...
;-)), very healthy children.
of course, no one is suggesting soaking in xylene for long periods of
time.....and i have yet to see a large scale, long term study of the effect
of dermal xylene exposure in histotechs (one would think that if it were
really a problem, someone would have studied and published on it by now).
carrie
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Linke_Noelle
  To: Bernard Ian R SSgt 59 CRES/MSROP ; Charles.Embrey ; MARY T HODGES ;
HistoNet Server
  Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 12:58 PM
  Subject: RE: coverslipping by hand


  Never being hit by a car while playing in traffic.....does not make
playing in traffic a wise thing to do!!  Do you have little globs of mercury
on your desks that you play with too?!?!

    -----Original Message-----
    From: Bernard Ian R SSgt 59 CRES/MSROP
[mailto:Ian.Bernard@LACKLAND.AF.MIL]
    Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 11:04 AM
    To: 'Charles.Embrey'; Linke_Noelle; MARY T HODGES; HistoNet Server
    Subject: RE: coverslipping by hand


    I second that motion fellow HistoRanger!!!
    9 years for me though.  I ain't that old::))

      -----Original Message-----
      From: Charles.Embrey [mailto:Charles.Embrey@carle.com]
      Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 10:24 AM
      To: 'Linke_Noelle'; MARY T HODGES; HistoNet Server
      Subject: RE: coverslipping by hand


      You really should try not to become so emotionally involved.  I have
coverslipped bare handed for 23 years and still have all my fingers, don't
see spots before my eyes, liver and kidneys work fine and I'm still
relatively sane.
      Chuck
        -----Original Message-----
        From: Linke_Noelle [mailto:Linke_Noelle@Allergan.com]
        Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 9:04 AM
        To: MARY T HODGES; HistoNet Server
        Subject: RE: coverslipping by hand


        It breaks my heart to read that there are techs out there NOT using
gloves to coverslip!!  I have NEVER touched mountant or xylene with my bare
hands and neither should anyone out there!  Buy nitrile gloves that fit you
and arent too big and you should have NO problems!
          -----Original Message-----
          From: MARY T HODGES [mailto:hodges420@msn.com]
          Sent: Tuesday, April 15, 2003 12:21 PM
          To: HistoNet Server
          Subject:


          Hi all,
          Just one quick question.. Do any of you use gloves to cover slip
by hand?
          Thanks for you input
          Tere Hodges