Dear histonetters,

Thanks to the net and John Kiernan I am nolonger as wary as I used to 
be when working with Sat. picric acid.  I am interested to know how 
other netters discard silver,ammonia and sodium hydroxide solutions 
e.g. in Gordon and Sweet stain.  I neutralize the solution with 1% 
sodium chloride and then flush it down the basin with a fair amount 
of water.  (should I be doing this?)   In another lab. they collect 
the waste solution in a plastic container  and then get a waste 
company to collect it.   (is this a better alternative? I am 
concerned about the explosive properties of this mixture when stored 
in large quantities before collection. )

Sharon Marshall
Anatomy & Cell Biology
University of Cape Town
South Africa