Measurement of stainer bath contamination and evaluation of common mitigation strategies

Methods relative to the staining of tissues using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) have largely not evolved beyond linear batch staining processes. The batching of slides in the histopathology laboratory inherently leads to the sharing of the various reagents among those specimens being processed through the baths. Studies analyzing the effects of reagent sharing during the common H&E linear staining method are limited. This study assessed rates of extraneous tissue contamination found in selected stainer bath containers from the deparaffinization portion of the H&E linear staining procedure. The impact of common mitigation strategies on those rates of contamination was evaluated.