Re: Zinc Formalin (formalin pigment)

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From:"J. A. Kiernan" <jkiernan@julian.uwo.ca>
To:Gervaip@aol.com
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Date:Mon, 21 Jun 1999 00:04:05 -0400 (EDT)
Content-Type:TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Sun, 20 Jun 1999 Gervaip@aol.com wrote:

> ... have been using zinc formalin for years now. It is wonderful for 
> ... can rust metal lids on specimen jars and formalin pigments are
> present in the sections.  

   This is a very interesting observation, because plain acidic
   formaldehyde solutions take quite a while to generate "formalin
   pigment" from haemoglobin. You say that you use the fixative
   in a processor, so presumably you are fixing for a short time
   such as overnight or 24 hours. Is this so? If it is so, then there
   is an implication that formalin pigment generation occurs more
   rapidly in zinc formalin than in simple acidic or non-neutralized
   formalin. This is something everyone should know about. Please
   tell us more!

 John A. Kiernan,
 Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
 The University of Western Ontario,
 LONDON,  Canada  N6A 5C1




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