Hi Christina.

    Well, AFA is alcohol + formaldehyde + acetic acid, none of these are 
good for you but neither is buffered formalin. That said, the alcohol in 
AFA will "carry" the other components across skin by acting as a solvent 
to the lipids in skin. Aqueous fixed like buffered formalin are much=20
less likely to do this. So the good penetration properties of AFA could 
render it more toxic. Gloves would solve the problem.

Geoff

Cristina Nunes wrote:

>Dear histoneters,
>For several years, in the Institute where I am working, the main fixative
>used for the preservation of gonads of fish was AFA, with apparently good
>results. Then, at a given moment (before I arrived to the Institute), it was
>decided to change from AFA to a formalin solution because of the higher
>toxicity of the former. The histological results were slightly less good but
>for practical reasons (most fish tissue fixations occur at sea, on board the
>research vessels), it was considered to be the best solution. However,
>nobody was able to explain me why AFA is much more toxic than a formalin
>solution (I am sorry for my ignorance in terms of chemistry). Could anyone
>clarify me on that point?
>Many thanks in advance and a very nice week-end.
>Regards,
>Cristina Nunes.
> 
>  
>
>><<<>
>>    
>>
>......................................................................><<<>
>Cristina De Amaral P. Nunes
>INIAP-IPIMAR Fisheries and Sea Research Institute
>Marine Resources Department
>Avenida Brasília
>1449-006 Lisboa
>Portugal
>Tel: + 351 21 302 71 55
>Fax: + 351 21 301 59 48
>Email: cnunes@ipimar.pt
>  
>
>><<<>
>>    
>>
>.....................................................................><<<>
>
>
>
> 
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>  
>


-- 
--
**********************************************
Geoff McAuliffe, Ph.D.
Neuroscience and Cell Biology
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
675 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854
voice: (732)-235-4583; fax: -4029 
mcauliff@umdnj.edu
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