Biosafe alternative to xylene: A comparative study

Abstract

Background:Xylene in one of the non-substitutable chemical used in histology laboratories. However, it is known to have many toxic effects. The toxic effects of xylene include heart and kidney injuries, some fatal blood dyscrasia and other less dangerous problems, such as skin erythema, drying, scaling and secondary infections. The exposure and handling of xylene is maximum during deparaffinizing tissue sections.Aims:The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 1.7% dishwashing soap (DWS) solution as a deparaffinizing agent for hematoxylin and eosin (H and E) staining and compare it with xylene.Materials and Methods:Sixty sections of 4 μm were obtained from 30 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues and were considered in two different groups, groups A and B. Slides in group A were stained with routine H and E staining procedure; whereas, slides in group B were stained using 1.7% DWS as a deparaffinizing agent.Statistical Analysis Used:Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank test was used to calculate the test of significance (P-value significant at ≤0.05).Results and Conclusion:1.7% DWS was found to be an effective alternative deparaffinizing agent to xylene and meanwhile facilitating as less biohazardous, economical and a faster deparaffinizing agent.

Gastrointestinal Parasites and Bacteria in Free-Living South American Sea Lions (Otaria flavescens) in Chilean Comau Fjord and New Host Record of a Diphyllobothrium scoticum-Like Cestode

“…For a detailed analysis of reproductive organs, strobila fragments (1 cm) were fixed in 4% formaldehyde, embedded in paraplast and 10 µm sagittal and transverse sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE). HE staining was performed with Harris hematoxylin (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and 0.25% Eosin Y (Merck) in 80% ethanol following a xylene-free protocol which uses 1.7% dish washer solution at 90 • C as deparaffinizing agent and over-drying at 60 • C instead of dehydration (Negi et al, 2013). Microscopic measurements were performed using a digital camera and CellSens R software (Olympus).…”

Experimental Granulomatous Pulmonary Nocardiosis in BALB/C Mice

“…Lungs were then submerged in 60°C paraffin (Paraplast ® regular, Sigma-Aldrich, MO, U.S.A.) twice, for 2 hours, and embedded in individual cassettes. 5 μm lung sections were deparaffinized using 1.7% dishwashing soap solution as described by Amita Negi [ 26 ], and dyed using Kinyoun’s stain (Carbol fuchsin, Sigma-Aldrich, MO, U.S.A., and Methylene Blue, Sigma-Aldrich, MO, U.S.A). Images were acquired using Carl Zeiss Axio Scope A1 equipped with AxioCam ERc 5s and imaging software AxioVision v. 4.8.…”

Ecofriendly, Economic Surrogative for Xylene

“…6 Considering the hazardous nature of the xylene, many substitutes were tried in the past and our study was the first to use detergent liquid as an alternative to xylene in the process of deparaffinization.…”