[NHCOLL-L:873] re: rehydrating specimens

[Karen Zich Reiss]

Has anyone out there had any experience with 2-phenoxyethanol?

I have no idea what it would do to a completely dessicated fish but for
moderately dessicated formalin preserved specimens it's fantastic.

I keep all my dissection specimens in it and it's in use in some med
schools for cadavers. It is a preservative, a "moisturizer", relatively
non-toxic, and it gradually displaces the formalin to yield more pliable
and pleasant smelling specimens.  I have fluids that have been in
phenoxyethanol for 5 years and have noticed no deterioration, molding, etc.
You cannot transfer alcoholic specimens into phenoxyethanol or ugly things
happen but there's no problem with formalin.

I'd be interested to know of anyone else's experiences with this stuff.  I
found out about it through the following reference:

Wineski and English (1989) Phenoxyethanol as a non-toxic preservative in
the dissection laboratory.  Acta Anatomica 136: 155-158.


Dr. Karen Zich Reiss
Department of Biological Sciences
Humboldt State University
Arcata, CA  95521
tel. 707-826-4156
fax 707-826-3201


      -- Nature will castigate those that don't masticate. --