Hello. I came across a fixation protocol for optical microscopy that employs chromium trioxide as a fixative. I was wondering if you guys could point me towards a less-toxic substitute for this compound? Thank you very much.
Normally, transparent epoxy casting resins are used as fixatives for microscopy. When cured (hardened), they do not contain any toxins.
What kind of objects should be fixed?
Kind regards,
Guenter Grundmann
Guenter Grundmann Thank you for your answer. We need to fix mucilage. Chromium trioxide is supposed to react in a very specific way with the mucilage. Hence, I am not sure if by embedding the mucilage in epoxy we will be able to obtain the same results, but we could give it a try and see what we get. Thanks again for helping with this.
Sergio Gabriel Lopez Thank you for your answer.
There is another embedding agent that is successfully used on mucilage in particular in restoration, conservation and art technology, the firm name is:
MELTMOUNT from Cargille Labs.
Cat.# 24160, Code 5870 It has the refractive index of nD 1,662 (at 25 degrees Celcius) The melting point is between 60 - 70 degrees Celsius.
Please try this, too.
Good luck!
Kind regards,
Guenter Grundmann
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