after seeing much discussion on histonet about the alcian blue situation, i
decided to contact a recognized authority myself.  i spoke with Charles
Willis (he runs the assay lab for the Biological Stain Commission) today and
this is the information he has:
several years ago, the company (ICI, in England) who held the patent for
manufacturing alcian blue stopped processing it due to a toxic intermediate
step (as Jim indicated).  the remainder of the supply was purchased from
them by Dudley Chemical, who has been supplying (directly or indirectly)
various distributors.  Their supply is indeed limited and they currently
have no new supplier for the dye.  this is not to say that there isn't a
company in say, china or india, who does make it or who would be willing to
make it.  it's just that at this time, Dudley Chemicals is not aware of
another manufacturer.
hope this helps to clear things a bit....

carrie kyle-byrne