Adrienne Anderson (where?) asks: >>My lab is looking into xylene substitutes, and I'd love some feedback on what >>other labs are using. We currently use SubX, but are there other items out >>there more economical?<<
I never heard of SubX, but the Leica Microsystems Richmond [no kin!] Inc. MSDS describes it as an "Aliphatic hydrocarbon, isoparaffinic oil", of which there are a great number in the trade. The flash point is 106 degrees Fahrenheit (xylene is 78, some others as high as 104). These aliphatics are not compatible with each other if you're going to recover them by distillation, and with any of them you need to sit down with management and make clear that you're going to go with a particular trade name and that they can't substitute it with naphtha from a ma-and-pa repackaging operation. AmeriClear of course is limonene, a turpentine-like substance distilled from citrus peels. Many people find the citrus smell intolerable, or are allergic to it, and I think the limonenes (there are several other brands) are no longer in widespread use, particularly since the price has gone up. Please, folks, when you post trade names on HistoNet, take a moment to look at the MSDS (it's online) to see what the chemical identity of the trade-name product is. You should know this if you're using the product, and it's better to assume that other people don't know it. Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Maryville TN _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet