Hi You may receive many opinions on this --- just a heads up. Many clinical labs do not consider shavings or debris from cutting to be red bag (hazardous) waste as they are no longer a 'biological hazard' due to the processing process which incorporates heat, alcohol and a fixative that is expected to effectively kill any infectious agents. There are some exceptions, which you can find in the CDC or OSHA guidelines such as dealing with tissue of brain (Jakob-creutzfeldt) lung (TB or other air-borne pathogens). CAP also has requirements/guidelines for handling these cases which you will need to have documentation for the processing procedure. I would suggest that you refer to these guidelines and also to your institutions regulations on what is regarded as hazardous waste. Above and beyond anything else make sure you document and site in your procedures manual your sources.
Hope this will help you. Vikki PS - any spelling errors I apologize for in advance ;-) On Tue, Feb 1, 2011 at 11:45 AM, Martin, Gary <gmar...@marshallmedical.org>wrote > We are wondering if paraffin block shavings are considered infectious > waste. > > _______________________________________________ > 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