The proportion of H235S delivered to brain tissue with vehicle (0.1% EtOH) or 3 µM stigmatellin that was recovered as either [35S]-sulphate, [35S]-thiosulphate or H235S, all three of these molecules, unidentified 35S recovered from the filter (>30 kDa) or HPLC column or a combination of the three identified molecules, and the 35S that was not identified. Nearly all of the supplied H235S was recovered as H235S when added to syringes containing the incubation solution without tissue (solution alone). Brain tissue reduced the proportion of H235S recovered as H235S and increased the proportions of H235S recovered as [35S]-sulphate, [35S]-thiosulphate, and unidentified [35S] (*P < 0.05 compared with solution alone, Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn's test). Stigmatellin (3 µM) had no effect on any of these measurements. Data are the mean ± SEM proportions for 4–10 observations.