Wanda,
The first thing you need to find out is what did they denature it with. Denatured alcohol may not be the mixture of isopropanol and methanol in ethanol you were getting and could be chemically denatured. This is a problem that comes up when we don't check all the variables in what is actually in the products we buy and the vendor doesn't tell us why it got cheaper. If it is a chemical denaturing of the alcohol it could be designed for use in one of many fields just not histology. The real requirement for reagent and denatured alcohol with the ATF is that the product be undrinkable or unfit for human consumption. Also different manufacturers use varying amounts of isopropanol/methanol/ethanol and that can change the way it processes and stains tissue. The best is 5% each of isopropanol and methanol with the remaining 90% ethanol. Pam Marcum UAMS ----- Original Message ----- From: "Smith Wanda" <wanda.sm...@hcahealthcare.com> To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Sent: Monday, January 4, 2010 9:25:08 AM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central Subject: [Histonet] Problems with Denatured Alcohol? Happy New Year to Everyone!!!!! We recently changed from Reagent Alcohol to Denatured Alcohol as a cost saving measure per the "bean counters". The cutting histotechs have started complaining that the tissue seems dry and they are having difficulty cutting sections. Has anyone else had this problem and are there any adjustments in processing times, etc that may help the situation??? Thanks, Wanda WANDA G. SMITH, HTL(ASCP)HT Pathology Supervisor TRIDENT MEDICAL CENTER 9330 Medical Plaza Drive Charleston, SC 29406 843-847-4586 843-847-4296 fax This email and any files transmitted with it may contain PRIVILEGED or CONFIDENTIAL information and may be read or used only by the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of the email or any of its attachments, please be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, distribution, forwarding, printing, or copying of this email or any attached files is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately purge it and all attachments and notify the sender by reply email or contact the sender at the number listed. _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet