Please help! I am working on my HTL Practical test and I am required to do a Prussian Blue iron stain on a 1.0 cm piece of bone. My problem is that everything that I use to decal my bone (so that it cuts nicely) leaches out all of the iron. HCL decal solutions were obviously too powerful (tried them anyways) so I used a milder selection that included acetic acid (after fixing w/ formaldehyde), and a combination of formic acid and formaldehyde (to fix and decal in the same step). I am leary to get Zenker's solution (which was recommended by Frieda Carson's Histology: A Self Instructional Text) because if it doesn't work, then I am left with the expensive and arduous task of disposing of the mercury. Does Zenker's really fix and decal effectively to preserve the iron AND allow me to cut a nice section? What about Zinc Chloride to replace the mercury in Zenker's? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I really need some help. Thank you!

 

Bethany J. Krafels