Hi Brandi, Three years ago, our lab was totally renovated. Clinical and anatomic pathology have become one big room. The only rooms that are separate are the grossing room (who sports a nifty Mopec 600 grossing w/vented hood system) and the TB lab. There has been some adjusting for the employees during this time. The med techs could not tolerate our xylene under any circumstances. Just changing the solutions in the processor/stainers was a whole new experience for them, much less any minor spill. In fact, having a minor spill ended up closing the lab for service, but that is another story. Switching over to xlyene substitute has worked out well after making adjustments. It sounds like just you and cytology are combined, so I hope that cytology has considered a hood for their non-gyn prep as you just never know about contaminates. Our cytology area has a great biohazard floor model and is also vented. In histology, we have a back draft built right into the back of the countertops that helps a lot with our manual special stains, and our automated coverslipper (era 1994) has a cover over it and is tied into the same venting system as the grossing station.
In retrospect, the only changes I wish I would have thought of, was to make sure that the entire venting system has a dedicated electrical hook-up. Because when the electricity goes down (and it will due to weather or a frisky squirrel), people cannot work in the fumes. It's amazing how quickly it gets bad. At first you don't realize it and then everyone starts getting xylene/formalin side affects. Not pretty. That's all I can think of and sorry it was long winded! Try and get the best for you and your people. Filters are expensive and in my opinion, don't give as good air exchange and a vented system. Best regards, Lynette Lynette Pavelich, HT(ASCP) Histology Supervisor MSH Competency Coordinator Hurley Medical Center One Hurley Plaza Flint, MI 48503 email: lpave...@hurleymc.com ph: 810-257-9948 Lab: 810-257-9138 fax: 810-762-7082 >>> Rene J Buesa <rjbu...@yahoo.com> 6/15/2010 10:53 AM >>> Over the counter fumes hood with filters are very effcicient and cheaper than running the vent ducts, especially in a large building. They also have the advantage that they can be moved to another place if necessary. Those without a cover are not that efficient. René J. --- On Tue, 6/15/10, Brandi Higgins <brandihigg...@gmail.com> wrote: From: Brandi Higgins <brandihigg...@gmail.com> Subject: [Histonet] fume hood To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Date: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 9:51 AM Hello, Our hospital is doing some renovation and we need to look into new fume hoods for our new location. Currently we have one fume hood over our grossing area, and one fume hood in our coverslipping area (two different rooms). The hospital wants to put our grossing room and histo/cyto rooms together. I am still going to need two separate hoods. Does anyone have any experience/knowledge/input about fume hoods? I'm trying to look into the ductless ones, although I imagine changing the filters will end up being more expensive over time (I have no idea what would be involved in running a duct/vent). Also I have seen a benchtop downdraft type that sucks the air down, and does not have a top. It is advertised as being good for xylene. Does anyone use this in their coverslipping area? Any input would be greatly appreciated. I'm pretty clueless on the whole issue. I want to make sure that what I get will be safe for me and my coworker as we will be spending most of our day in this room. Any input is appreciated! Thank You! Brandi Higgins, BS, HT(ASCP) _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet _______________________________________________ Histonet mailing list Histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu http://lists.utsouthwestern.edu/mailman/listinfo/histonet