Dear Michelle,

	The most common solution to this problem is to add a little dye.  Blue
seems to be a favorite.  The idea is not to colour the specimen just to
give the formalin solution a nice tint.

	Personally, & certainly Health & Safety wise this is NOT a good idea.
Your specimen should arrive in containers that are clearly LABELLED as to
their contents.  Especially if those containers are being transported into
& out of a facility.  Even if a laboratory courier is involved.  At any
time when a sample is being delivered from its collection site to the lab,
it must be labelled, if there is a spill, or some other catastrophy, it is
essential to know what liquid is on the floor, furniture or people.

	So the answer to your question is to labell it.  Pure & simple.

	Regards
	
	Rob W.

At 09:15 09/14/1999 -0800, you wrote:
>Is there anything out there (aside from noses and eyes) to detect the
>presence of formalin in a specimen container.  One of our pathologist has a
>difficult time determining whether something was submitted in formalin or
>saline.
>Thanks in advance,
>Michelle Skelton
>Alaska Native Medical Center


R. Wadley, B.App.Sc. M.L.S, Grad.Dip.Sc.MM
Laboratory Manager
Cellular Analysis Facility
School of Microbiology & Immunology
UNSW, New South Wales, Australia, 2052
Ph (BH) 	+61 (2) 9385 3517
Ph (AH)	+61 (2) 9555 1239
Fax 	+61 (2) 9385 1591
E-mail	r.wadley@unsw.edu.au
www	http://www.micro.unsw.edu.au/caf.html