Zenker’s fluid fixation

Contributed by Martin Fitzpatrick, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

Fixation with Zenker’s fluid

• Add 950ml distilled water to a suitable container
• Add 25g potassium dichromate
• Add 50g mercuric chloride
• Add 50g glacial acetic acid
• Mix thoroughly to dissolve
• Fix samples for 4-24 hours
• Following fixation wash samples overnight in running tap water prior to processing

This method is based, with permission, on an original protocol available here.