[Histonet] Formalin Neutralizer
The topic of formalin neutralization comes up regularly in HistoNet and there are always those who post answers telling about good results obtained and the advantage of eliminating the cost of removal by some local company dedicated to chemical contaminants removal. Perhaps I have been unlucky but I have tried Transform121; Vytak; Formalex; Aldez-AMS 410 and 1% aq. potassium permanganate with very poor results as tested with Schiff's reagent of the neutralized product. Always the neutralized NBF had a strong smell of formalin, as Mark describes. On an answer to HistoNet on March 24, 2009 our colleague Tony Henwwod advised all of us that 10% neutral formalin can be neutralized with sodium bisulfite or with concentrated ammonia (27%) used at a ratio of 56mL every 1 000 mL of 10% NBF. The ammonia is added stirring and is an exothermic chemical reaction. I have not tested the procedure but I completely sure of Tony's advise. After my failures with commercial neutralizers I decided to keep using the services of the chemical disposal company, expensive as they were, because I could reconcile myself with the idea of dumping incompletely neutralized NBF into the sewer and that is what I recommend anybody who, after neutralizing the NBF, still smells it! René J. From: Mark Tarango marktara...@gmail.com To: Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu; Lin Bustamante lbustama...@cvm.tamu.edu Sent: Friday, April 12, 2013 6:22 PM Subject: Re: [Histonet] Formalin Neutralizer Our safety person claims no test for formalin is accurate after the addition of sodium sulfite. I had suggested some kind of testing after I was surprised by the strength of the fumes when someone was pouring the treated formalin waste down the drain. I wish I knew more about it. On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 6:26 PM, Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com wrote: We have a formaldehyde test kit. It's a dip stick type test. Sent from my iPhone On Apr 11, 2013, at 5:31 PM, Mark Tarango marktara...@gmail.com wrote: Can I ask how you test before dumping? Thanks Mark On Apr 11, 2013 6:21 AM, Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com wrote: We neutralize ours and have no problems with it. I am not sure how much you use, so I will say it is easiest in smaller batches as you do have to shake it up to make sure it dissolves. We purchase ours from BBC Biochemical for a very reasonable price and then test before dumping. We have doing this for four years with no issues. Thanks, Cristi Sent from my iPhone On Apr 11, 2013, at 6:04 AM, Bustamante, Lin lbustama...@cvm.tamu.edu wrote: We are looking into the option of neutralizing our formalin waste instead of having it to be picked up. If you use Formalin Neutralizer, do you have any pro/con about this product? Thank you very much. Lin S. Bustamante, B.S., H.T.(ASCP) VIBS Histology Laboratory Supervisor College Of Veterinary Medicine Texas AM University College Station, Texas 77843-4458 Phone: (979) 845-3177 Fax: (979) 458-3499 ___ 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 ___ 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
Re: [Histonet] Formalin Neutralizer
Lol, of all your post Rene, I have not seen anything that needed more. Your a good guy. Always detailed and precise, with a complete story not just bare minimum effort. In this case I have to point something out, not so much for histonet as for Rene to thank him for all his histonet education he gives us all. So here goes--- formaldehyde is a colorless odorless gas. You cannot smell it. The smell of formalin is an additive, the purpose of which is to make you aware when you are being exposed. Propane has a similar additive that smells like rotten eggs, so you dont blow your house or garage up leaving the stove or grill on all day and then lighting it up! Boom! To elaborate on the formalin neutralizing blah blah- you make hexamethylene tetramine by mixing ammonia and formaldehyde...its a common compound used in platics and other industry and also to treat UTI. Since it is a drug, it is allready found in our water system. Just pour that crap down the drain Rene! Dont worry about the smell its harmless! And keep posting on histonet! Sent from my iPhone On Apr 13, 2013, at 11:37 AM, Rene J Buesa rjbu...@yahoo.com wrote: The topic of formalin neutralization comes up regularly in HistoNet and there are always those who post answers telling about good results obtained and the advantage of eliminating the cost of removal by some local company dedicated to chemical contaminants removal. Perhaps I have been unlucky but I have tried Transform121; Vytak; Formalex; Aldez-AMS 410 and 1% aq. potassium permanganate with very poor results as tested with Schiff's reagent of the neutralized product. Always the neutralized NBF had a strong smell of formalin, as Mark describes. On an answer to HistoNet on March 24, 2009 our colleague Tony Henwwod advised all of us that 10% neutral formalin can be neutralized with sodium bisulfite or with concentrated ammonia (27%) used at a ratio of 56mL every 1 000 mL of 10% NBF. The ammonia is added stirring and is an exothermic chemical reaction. I have not tested the procedure but I completely sure of Tony's advise. After my failures with commercial neutralizers I decided to keep using the services of the chemical disposal company, expensive as they were, because I could reconcile myself with the idea of dumping incompletely neutralized NBF into the sewer and that is what I recommend anybody who, after neutralizing the NBF, still smells it! René J. From: Mark Tarango marktara...@gmail.com To: Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu; Lin Bustamante lbustama...@cvm.tamu.edu Sent: Friday, April 12, 2013 6:22 PM Subject: Re: [Histonet] Formalin Neutralizer Our safety person claims no test for formalin is accurate after the addition of sodium sulfite. I had suggested some kind of testing after I was surprised by the strength of the fumes when someone was pouring the treated formalin waste down the drain. I wish I knew more about it. On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 6:26 PM, Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com wrote: We have a formaldehyde test kit. It's a dip stick type test. Sent from my iPhone On Apr 11, 2013, at 5:31 PM, Mark Tarango marktara...@gmail.com wrote: Can I ask how you test before dumping? Thanks Mark On Apr 11, 2013 6:21 AM, Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com wrote: We neutralize ours and have no problems with it. I am not sure how much you use, so I will say it is easiest in smaller batches as you do have to shake it up to make sure it dissolves. We purchase ours from BBC Biochemical for a very reasonable price and then test before dumping. We have doing this for four years with no issues. Thanks, Cristi Sent from my iPhone On Apr 11, 2013, at 6:04 AM, Bustamante, Lin lbustama...@cvm.tamu.edu wrote: We are looking into the option of neutralizing our formalin waste instead of having it to be picked up. If you use Formalin Neutralizer, do you have any pro/con about this product? Thank you very much. Lin S. Bustamante, B.S., H.T.(ASCP) VIBS Histology Laboratory Supervisor College Of Veterinary Medicine Texas AM University College Station, Texas 77843-4458 Phone: (979) 845-3177 Fax: (979) 458-3499 ___ 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 ___ 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
Re: [Histonet] Formalin Neutralizer
Benjamin: Thank you Just a detail about formaldehyde (chemically named methanal). Please check ANY chemical book and you will find in the description of methanal something like: colorless gas at room temperature with a CHARACTERISTIC PUNGENT and IRRITATING ODOR!! So much for you cannot smell it!!! And be assured I will keep posting every time I think I can be of some help to my fellow histonetters René J. From: Benjamin benja...@histologistics.com To: Rene J Buesa rjbu...@yahoo.com Cc: Mark Tarango marktara...@gmail.com; Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com; histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu; Lin Bustamante lbustama...@cvm.tamu.edu Sent: Saturday, April 13, 2013 12:16 PM Subject: Re: [Histonet] Formalin Neutralizer Lol, of all your post Rene, I have not seen anything that needed more. Your a good guy. Always detailed and precise, with a complete story not just bare minimum effort. In this case I have to point something out, not so much for histonet as for Rene to thank him for all his histonet education he gives us all. So here goes--- formaldehyde is a colorless odorless gas. You cannot smell it. The smell of formalin is an additive, the purpose of which is to make you aware when you are being exposed. Propane has a similar additive that smells like rotten eggs, so you dont blow your house or garage up leaving the stove or grill on all day and then lighting it up! Boom! To elaborate on the formalin neutralizing blah blah- you make hexamethylene tetramine by mixing ammonia and formaldehyde...its a common compound used in platics and other industry and also to treat UTI. Since it is a drug, it is allready found in our water system. Just pour that crap down the drain Rene! Dont worry about the smell its harmless! And keep posting on histonet! Sent from my iPhone On Apr 13, 2013, at 11:37 AM, Rene J Buesa rjbu...@yahoo.com wrote: The topic of formalin neutralization comes up regularly in HistoNet and there are always those who post answers telling about good results obtained and the advantage of eliminating the cost of removal by some local company dedicated to chemical contaminants removal. Perhaps I have been unlucky but I have tried Transform121; Vytak; Formalex; Aldez-AMS 410 and 1% aq. potassium permanganate with very poor results as tested with Schiff's reagent of the neutralized product. Always the neutralized NBF had a strong smell of formalin, as Mark describes. On an answer to HistoNet on March 24, 2009 our colleague Tony Henwwod advised all of us that 10% neutral formalin can be neutralized with sodium bisulfite or with concentrated ammonia (27%) used at a ratio of 56mL every 1 000 mL of 10% NBF. The ammonia is added stirring and is an exothermic chemical reaction. I have not tested the procedure but I completely sure of Tony's advise. After my failures with commercial neutralizers I decided to keep using the services of the chemical disposal company, expensive as they were, because I could reconcile myself with the idea of dumping incompletely neutralized NBF into the sewer and that is what I recommend anybody who, after neutralizing the NBF, still smells it! René J. From: Mark Tarango marktara...@gmail.com To: Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com Cc: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu; Lin Bustamante lbustama...@cvm.tamu.edu Sent: Friday, April 12, 2013 6:22 PM Subject: Re: [Histonet] Formalin Neutralizer Our safety person claims no test for formalin is accurate after the addition of sodium sulfite. I had suggested some kind of testing after I was surprised by the strength of the fumes when someone was pouring the treated formalin waste down the drain. I wish I knew more about it. On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 6:26 PM, Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com wrote: We have a formaldehyde test kit. It's a dip stick type test. Sent from my iPhone On Apr 11, 2013, at 5:31 PM, Mark Tarango marktara...@gmail.com wrote: Can I ask how you test before dumping? Thanks Mark On Apr 11, 2013 6:21 AM, Cristi Rigazio cls71...@gmail.com wrote: We neutralize ours and have no problems with it. I am not sure how much you use, so I will say it is easiest in smaller batches as you do have to shake it up to make sure it dissolves. We purchase ours from BBC Biochemical for a very reasonable price and then test before dumping. We have doing this for four years with no issues. Thanks, Cristi Sent from my iPhone On Apr 11, 2013, at 6:04 AM, Bustamante, Lin lbustama...@cvm.tamu.edu wrote: We are looking into the option of neutralizing our formalin waste instead of having it to be picked up. If you use Formalin Neutralizer, do you have any pro/con about this product? Thank you very much. Lin S. Bustamante, B.S., H.T.(ASCP) VIBS Histology Laboratory Supervisor College Of Veterinary Medicine Texas AM University College Station, Texas 77843-4458 Phone: (979)
[Histonet] Re: Thioflavine Staining for Amyloid
Thioflavine T enjoyed a fairly brief vogue as an amyloid stain about the time I was a pathology resident over forty of years ago. It awed the professors of medicine because it was a fluorescent stain back when that was a hot topic. I understood that it was similar in specificity to the old crystal violet mounted in pancake syrup. The standard stain for amyloid remains Congo red, viewed with polarization. Newer direct cotton dyes like Sirius red never really caught on. Anatech (www.anatechltdusa.com - I have no connection with Anatech) introduced Amyloid Red (Direct red 72, C.I. 29200) as an amyloid stain twelve years ago. I've yet to read about it anywhere - a Google search turns up nothing but their catalog and a Histosearch note I wrote in 2001. Does anyone have any experience with it? Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Maryville TN ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
[Histonet] Re: Formalin Neutralizer
I'm surprised that the dismal topic of formaldehyde neutralization never seems to get settled. I have a litre of 10% neutral buffered formalin. How many grams of sodium sulfite (or bisulfite, or metabisulfite) do I have to weigh out and pour in to neutralize it? What is the chemical reaction? Is ammonia also required? and if so, I've got the same questions about ammonia. Will the Herrn Inschpektors allow me to use generic chemicals, or do I have to buy some expensive proprietary product in order to satisfy them? Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Maryville TN ___ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet
Re: [Histonet] Re: Formalin Neutralizer
I am posting that my last comment about formalin was wrong about the odor, it does not have any additives. And as far as dumping it down the drain follow your local regs!! Sent from my iPhone On Apr 13, 2013, at 2:09 PM, Bob Richmond rsrichm...@gmail.com wrote: I'm surprised that the dismal topic of formaldehyde neutralization never seems to get settled. I have a litre of 10% neutral buffered formalin. How many grams of sodium sulfite (or bisulfite, or metabisulfite) do I have to weigh out and pour in to neutralize it? What is the chemical reaction? Is ammonia also required? and if so, I've got the same questions about ammonia. Will the Herrn Inschpektors allow me to use generic chemicals, or do I have to buy some expensive proprietary product in order to satisfy them? Bob Richmond Samurai Pathologist Maryville TN ___ 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
