Some points that haven't been mentioned in this discussion: I think most labs have switched from xylenes to aliphatic hydrocarbons for processing, hydration, and dehydration though obviously considerable controversy remains. (I can't imagine anybody switching from xylene to limonene now - particularly because limonene smells bad and is something of an allergen or other sensitizer. The aliphatics (Pro-par and many others) are all quite odorless to my not very sensitive nose.
The one place where you can't eliminate xylenes (or the closely related aromatic hydrocarbons benzene and toluene) is in coverslipping - they still haven't come up with an aromatics-free mounting resin. For somebody with sensitivity problems, formaldehyde is just as big a problem. Many clinical labs still don't have adequate ventilation of their grossing areas - I'm working in two these days that don't - and I wind up choking on the stuff fairly often. There is no substitute for a gross desk that draws the air over your work into louvers set at hand level - the Nut-One kitchen hood set high overhead doesn't do it. It seems to me that a technologist with the problems you describe ought to be able to work in a properly ventilated laboratory, and since inadequate ventilation is an OSHA issue, histology labs really need to be adequately ventilated. Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Knoxville TN _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
