Economic, human and environmental health benefits of replacing formaldehyde in the preservation of corpses.

Formaldehyde has been prominent in preserving biological tissues since the nineteenth century. Despite being admittedly harmful to health and to the environment, it is still widely used. The Morphology Department of the University of Brasília - Brazil, applied the rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle and responsibility methodology to their activities in an effort to protect the health of laboratory workers and users, save resources and reduce damage to the environment. Here we evaluate the results obtained a decade after the implementation of this proposal (2005-2015). Formaldehyde was replaced by alcohol and glycerol solutions in corpse conservation. Over five thousand dollars in public funds that would have been destined to buying preserving substances were saved annually, and over a hundred thousand liters of water that would have been contaminated and thrown into the sewage system were spared. The environment used to implement the study was improved and anatomical parts kept for study had their lifespan extended. It is noteworthy that such simple adjustments could cause pronounced changes in laboratory activities. We would avoid contaminating billions of liters of water and it would be possible to save millions if similar practices were implemented in all educational institutions having similar routines.

Anatomy of branches linguais of nerve hipoglosso in sus-scrofa domesticates, L., 1758 - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v31i1.772 / Anatomia dos ramos linguais do nervo hipoglosso em Sus scrofa domesticus, L., 1758 - DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v31i1.772

We studied the ramifications and distribution of the hypoglossal nerve after it penetrated the root of the tongue (36 antimeres) of adult swines (Sus scrofa domestica, L. 1758) from both sexes slaughtered in frigorific (metropolitan region of Goiânia, Goiás - Brazil). The material was chilled for transportation (4C); placed in aqueous solution of formaldehyde (7%) for 72 hours; submerged in aqueous solution of nitric acid (15%) for 72 hours; dissected under magnifying glass (RASOR, II-20). The trunk and the primary, secondary and tertiary nervous branches were observed in the antimeres (method of Bittencourt et al., 1987). We followed the topography of the nerve starting from the posterior mandibular region between the myofascial structures of the mylohyoid and hypoglossal. On the root of the tongue the nerve crosses the lingual artery, becoming medial in relationship to the latter. It subdivides into three orders of dimension towards the superior longitudinal muscle as follows: left antimere, 4 to 13 primary branches, 4 to 21 secondary branches and 0 to 16 tertiary branches; on the right antimere, 8 to 18 primary branches, 3 to 13 secondary branches and 0 to 12 tertiary branches. In 27.59% of the analyzed antimeres, the branches of the hypoglossal nerve established joints with fibers from the lingual nerve of the correspondent antimere.

Estudamos as ramificações e distribuição do nervo hipoglosso após este penetrar na raiz da língua (36 antímeros) de suínos (Sus scrofa domesticus, L. 1758) adultos de ambos os sexos abatidos em frigorífico (região metropolitana de Goiânia, Estado de Goiás - Brasil). O material foi resfriado para transporte (4ºC), fixado em solução aquosa de formaldeído (7%) por 72h, imerso em solução aquosa de ácido nítrico (15%) por 72h, dissecado sob lupa (RASOR, II-20). Nos antímeros, observou-se o tronco e ramos nervosos primários, secundários e terciários (método de BITTENCOURT et al., 1987). Seguimos a topográfica do nervo, a partir da região retro mandibular, entre as estruturas miofaciais do milohioideo e hipoglosso. Na raiz da língua, o nervo cruza a artéria lingual, passando a ser medial em relação a esta. Subdivide-se em três ordens de grandeza em direção ao músculo longitudinal superior, como segue: antímero esquerdo, quatro a 13 ramos primários, quatro a 21 ramos secundários e zero a 16 ramos terciários; no antímero direito, oito a 18 ramos primários, três a 13 ramos secundários e zero a 12 ramos terciários. Em 27,59% dos antímeros analisados, os ramos do nervo hipoglosso estabeleceram junções com fibras do nervo lingual do antímero correspondente.