Aidan
I would recommend that, unless your procedure precludes the use of phosphate buffers, that you use phosphate buffered formalin solution instead of formal saline. The sodium chloride in formal saline is merely to improve the osmolarity of the
solution, however, the sodium chloride has been shown to reach cells ahead of the formalin and can interfere with the fixation.
Barry

Aidan Schurr wrote:

> Hi all
>
> Don't know if we are alone in (still) using buffered formal saline, but I was wondering if it is really necessary for me to be using expensive AnalAR grade NaCl for this - or could I just buy a bag of (non-iodised) salt from the supermarket?!
>
> Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
>
> Cheers,
> Aidan
>
> __
>
> aidan schurr  b.m.l.sc
> section head, histology
> hutt valley district health board
> lower hutt
> new zealand
>
> aidan.schurr@hvh.co.nz
> ++64 4 570 9173