Why are preservative solutions for preserving wet specimens (formaldehyde, kaiserling III…) yellow or blue at museums?

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I’ve been googling for hours and can’t seem to find the correct key words to get the results I want. Are the newer solutions blue because it makes the wet specimens look more alive? What is the science?

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6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Typically, the specimen isn’t in formaldehyde, but it’s first “fixed” in formaldehyde (it chemically reacts to stop decomposition) and then placed in ethanol or isopropanol. Per this [NPS document](https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/11-03.pdf), the yellowing is mainly due to dissolved proteins and lipids.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Typically, the specimen isn’t in formaldehyde, but it’s first “fixed” in formaldehyde (it chemically reacts to stop decomposition) and then placed in ethanol or isopropanol. Per this [NPS document](https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/11-03.pdf), the yellowing is mainly due to dissolved proteins and lipids.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Typically, the specimen isn’t in formaldehyde, but it’s first “fixed” in formaldehyde (it chemically reacts to stop decomposition) and then placed in ethanol or isopropanol. Per this [NPS document](https://www.nps.gov/museum/publications/conserveogram/11-03.pdf), the yellowing is mainly due to dissolved proteins and lipids.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Ohh!! I see, thank you! Do you know why it is often blue?

Anonymous 0 Comments

Ohh!! I see, thank you! Do you know why it is often blue?

Anonymous 0 Comments

Ohh!! I see, thank you! Do you know why it is often blue?