Thank you for the insights into recycling. Our surveys are based on labs achieving a quality of staining and processing that ensures accurate clinical interpretation and labs are generally doing an excellent job regardless of the reagents used which is a tribute to their QC. It would be great to see more standardization in histotechnology with the increased reliance on anatomic pathology to guide therapy, but I suspect that is a pipe dream. Here is an article that may be of interest
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00428-020-02960-z John On Fri, Jul 9, 2021 at 7:18 PM, Jamie Watson <jamiewatsonh...@outlook.com> wrote: > Hello everyone, > > Tony is correct that generally recycled xylene is purer than what you buy. I > have been using recycled xylene since the early 80s from 4 different types of > recyclers. > > The best practice is to have a small amount of new xylene constantly coming > into the recycling stream. We always use purchased xylene on our H&E stainer > to achieve this. Also about every 1-1.5 years replace all the xylene in the > recycling stream. > > Alcohol recycling is too labor intensive and can be difficult to get the the > percentage correct. > > I have never used recycled formalin. > > Jamie > > On July 9, 2021 6:13:13 PM "Tony Henwood (SCHN) via Histonet" > <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> wrote: > >> Hi John, >> >> There is anecdotal evidence that recycled xylene is of a better quality than >> the original purchased product. We have found it to be so. No processing nor >> staining problems unless there has been a recycling issue (as shown by the >> CBG xylene purity test). >> >> I suppose we have to access each reagent that is recycled and determine the >> risk of using it. For example, unless care is taken, recycling alcohol can >> be an issue (eg xylene contamination). We do not recycle alcohol for this >> reason. >> >> "When we are continuously challenged by pre-analytic variables in >> histotechnology why do labs continue to use recycled reagents? " >> >> From your survey, has re-cycling xylene been found to be a major, or minor >> issue? >> >> We definitely need evidence that re-cycling is a risk. >> >> Regards >> Tony Henwood JP, MSc, BAppSc, GradDipSysAnalys, CT(ASC), FFSc(RCPA) >> Principal Scientist, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead >> Adjunct Fellow, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney >> Tel: 612 9845 3306 >> Fax: 612 9845 3318 >> Pathology Department >> the children's hospital at westmead >> Cnr Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead >> Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145, AUSTRALIA >> ________________________________ >> From: John Garratt <john.garr...@ciqc.ca> >> Sent: Saturday, 10 July 2021 05:31 >> To: Paula; Tony Henwood (SCHN); 'Erick Rodriguez' >> Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu >> Subject: Re: [Histonet] "cooked" biopsy >> >> Interesting discussion. >> At CPQA we recently started a H&E EQA program that includes fixation and >> processing in the feedback to participants and in a recent mini-survey I >> found that a third of labs use recycled product somewhere in the >> pre-analytic phase. >> When we are continuously challenged by pre-analytic variables in >> histotechnology why do labs continue to use recycled reagents? >> >> John >> >> On Thu, Jul 8, 2021 at 5:59 AM, Paula via Histonet >> <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu<mailto:histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu>> >> wrote: >> Hi Tony, >> Thank you for the procedure. I do send out the recycled xylene to have its >> analysis done by an outside company every month, and I'll put into place >> this testing procedure that you outlined below in place ase well. >> Paula >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Tony Henwood (SCHN) [mailto:tony.henw...@health.nsw.gov.au] >> Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2021 1:25 PM >> To: 'Erick Rodriguez'; Paula >> Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu >> Subject: Re: [Histonet] "cooked" biopsy >> >> Hi Paula, >> >> We can check the purity of the xylene quite easily: >> >> Xylene Purity Test Procedure >> >> Note: The recommended and most accurate method of determining the purity of >> the recycled xylene is by doing a Gas Chromatography analysis. The following >> method can be used to obtain an acceptable confidence level in the purity of >> the recycled xylene (CBG Biotech). >> >> Testing Procedure >> >> 1. To a clean, dry 100 ml mixing cylinder graduate, add sufficient recovered >> xylene so that the bottom of the meniscus is aligned with the top edge of >> the 85 ml mark on the graduate. >> >> 2. Add water to the graduate until the bottom of the meniscus aligns with >> the top edge of the 100 ml mark on the graduate. At this point, 15 ml of >> water will have been added to 85 ml of recovered xylene. >> >> 3. Stopper the graduate and invert the mixture. Allow the mixture to settle, >> making sure that all of the water settles to the bottom of the graduate. No >> water should remain clinging to the sides of the graduate above the >> xylene/water separation point. This separation point should be near the 15 >> ml level of the graduate. (Note: xylene floats on top of the water). >> >> 4. Carefully inspect and record the point of separation between the water >> and xylene using the bottom of the meniscus as the separation point. >> >> 5. Subtract 15 ml from the quantity of water indicated in step 5. The >> remainder plus an additional 0.1 correction factor equals the percentage of >> recovered xylene impurities. >> >> EXAMPLE: >> >> Xylene/Water separation point is indicated to be 15.5 ml. >> (15.5 - 15) + 0.1 = 0.6% impurities. >> Therefore, the recovered xylene is 99.4% pure. >> >> Regards >> Tony Henwood JP, MSc, BAppSc, GradDipSysAnalys, CT(ASC), FFSc(RCPA) >> Principal Scientist, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead >> Adjunct Fellow, School of Medicine, University of Western Sydney >> Tel: 612 9845 3306 >> Fax: 612 9845 3318 >> Pathology Department >> the children's hospital at westmead >> Cnr Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead >> Locked Bag 4001, Westmead NSW 2145, AUSTRALIA >> >> ________________________________________ >> From: Paula via Histonet <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> >> Sent: Thursday, 8 July 2021 04:53 >> To: 'Erick Rodriguez' >> Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu >> Subject: Re: [Histonet] "cooked" biopsy >> >> Thank you, everyone... >> I looked at my reagents and saw the color pink in the xylene, which tells me >> that there is water or too much water in it so I changed it. >> We recycle xylene, so I need to get the recycler looked at now. >> Thanks again, >> Paula >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Erick Rodriguez [mailto:rodriguez.er...@icloud.com] >> Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2021 11:24 AM >> To: Paula >> Subject: Re: [Histonet] "cooked" biopsy >> >> Did you change the processor reagents before running your tissues? Cooked >> tissue usually means the tissue wasn’t dehydrated properly and the leftover >> water boiled and fried your tissue. I would double check the alcohols. >> >>> On Jul 7, 2021, at 11:00 AM, Paula via Histonet >>> <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu> wrote: >>> >>> ?Hello, good day, >>> >>> Our pathologist is complaining about the tissues today that they are >>> "cooked, burnt, crushed, shrunken" those are the adjectives she is using. >>> >>> Can you tell me the cause? Usually, the work comes out beautiful but today >>> they are not. Nothing has changed on our processing times. >>> >>> What should I investigate? >>> >>> Thank you in advance, >>> >>> Paula >>> >>> Bio-Path Medica Group >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 >> >> This message is intended for the addressee named and may contain >> confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please >> delete it and notify the sender. >> >> Views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, and are >> not necessarily the views of NSW Health or any of its entities. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Histonet mailing list >> Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu >> http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet >> >> This message is intended for the addressee named and may contain >> confidential information. 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