An Improved Non-Formaldehyde Tissue Preservative

Abstract

Formalin (formaldehyde solution) is generally used as embalming fluid and tissue fixation agent because of its low price, antiseptic sterilization ability and good application effect and so on. However, the intense excitant odor of the formaldehyde and its volatile cause great harm for human health and working environment. In order to solve the problems caused by formaldehyde, an improved non-formaldehyde tissue preservative is invented. The preservative is a blend of acid, buffer solution and cross-linking agent, which act as mildew preventive, stabilizer and fixative respectively. The improved preservative is characterized and applied on animal and body tissue fixation and preservation. The results show that the improved preservative is a more desirable tissue preservative than formaldehyde not only due to its good mildew proof, low volatile and odor, but also the same preservation and fixation effects as formaldehyde. It will be considered as a real environmental friendly preservative in near future.

Human body preservation – old and new techniques

“…In general, this substance is used as flame retardant in cotton fabrics. A formaldehyde-free embalming fluid using this substance was recently presented by Shi et al (2012). It contains a 15% solution of tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride as cross-linking agent in an 85% acidic buffer solution.…”

“…Another replacement for formaldehyde has been suggested by Shi et al. (). Their preservative is a blend of acid, buffer solution and cross‐linking agent, Tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride, which acts as fungicide, stabilizer and fixative, respectively.…”

Cryodehydration protocol to obtain high‐quality permanent anatomical material

“…In this regard, alternative fixatives—such as ethyl alcohol, glycerin, 30% sodium chloride solution, or zinc chloride (ZnCl 2 ) solution—have been studied with good results. In the last decade, several formulations have been categorically recommended as viable fixation alternatives including a combination of ethanol, glycerin, and thymol formulae (Hammer et al, 2012); polyhexamethylne guanidine hydrochloride (Anichkov et al, 2011); blends of acid, buffer solution, and a cross‐linking agent with fungicide (Shi et al, 2011); among others. However, such approaches are still not as popular as formaldehyde immersion (Goodarzi et al, 2018; Oliveira, 2014).…”