Nancy,
At my previous place of employment, we used the following method, which 
seemed to be effective, but I had reservations about its safety:

1. Turn off the cryostat and allow it to come to room temperature.
2. Pour 35 ml of 37% formaldehyde into a beaker and place it in the bottom 
of the cryostat.
3. Pour 5 grams of potassium permanganate into the formaldehyde and 
immediately close the lid of the cryostat.
4. Leave it overnight, then wipe everything down with absolute alcohol.

The permanganate reacts very quickly with the formaldehyde and gives off 
purple vapors which smell strongly of formaldehyde.

Perhaps some of the chemists among us can say if this is an acceptable 
method or if it's a witch's brew that will grow warts inside the cryostat.

David Anderson
Waco, TX




>From: NLOUISEA@aol.com
>To: histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
>Subject: cryostat decontamination
>Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 14:04:10 -0400 (EDT)
>
>Hi all,
>We use ETOH to clean the cryostat on a daily basis without shutting it 
>down.
>CAP recommends shutting it down and decontaminating weekly if using 
>cryostat
>daily.  What are you using to accomplish this?
>Thanks
>Nancy Adams
>


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