Preservation of muscle tissue with a formaldehyde-free borax solution for gross anatomy lessons

It is known that formaldehyde has serious toxicological effects on medical students, laboratory workers and environmental health. Recently various scientists search for a safe preservation fluid instead of the formaldehyde. One of them and the famous one is the Thiel’s embalming solution. However, it has been realized that it causes deterioration in muscle tissues. It was determined that this deterioration was caused by the boric acid. In the present study, previously formalin fixed muscle tissues were stored into the alkali form of boron during 40 days. At the end of the trial the appearance of the borax stored cadavers was quite similar to the formalin stored cadavers. In cross-sections taken from the muscle tissues, no deterioration could observe. Additionally, there was no putrid odor; on the contrary, a slight level of formaldehyde odor. In microbiological tests, there was a slight insignificant increase in the total number of bacteria in borax solutions. As a result, it was concluded that borax could be used as a cadaveric storage solution, and it can be more appropriate to use borax instead of boric acid in Thiel's solution.