In routine histopathology, xylene has been used in tissue processing and staining. Presently health hazards of xylene are well documented and a safer substitute is an absolute necessity.

The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of mineral oil as a deparaffinizing agent when compared to that of xylene by using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining.

Thirty paraffin-embedded tissue blocks were randomly selected and two sections were taken from each block. Thirty sections were stained with conventional H&E method (group A) using xylene as deparaffinizing agent and 30 were stained with xylene free method using refined mineral oil (group B). Sections were blinded and analyzed by two pathologists using the parameters of uniformity, clarity and intensity of nuclear and cytoplasmic staining respectively (satisfactory = score 1, unsatisfactory = score 0). Score „d 4 was considered to be adequate for diagnosis.

100% of sections in group A and 93.3% of sections in group B were adequate for diagnosis (p-value 0.150).

The study recommends refined mineral oil as a biofriendly and effective xylene substitute in deparaffinization of tissue sections.

Premalatha BR, Patil S, Rao RS, Indu M. Mineral Oil—A Biofriendly Substitute for Xylene in Deparaffinization: A Novel Method. J Contemp Dent Pract 2013;14(2):281-286.