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United States Government Work, uncopyrighted, public-domain,
DRAFT COPY ONLY. This document does not necessarily represent the views
or policies of any United States Government agency.
This document is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind,
express or implied, including but not limited to the warranties
of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and
non-infringement. In no event shall the authors be liable
for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an
action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of,
or in connection with the document or the use or other dealings
made with the document.
See also: Maintenance policies: 39,
40, 41,
44, 46,
117.
Spills and Disposal: 116,
215, 219,
220, 253.
PRINCIPLE OF THE TEST.
Proper storage of laboratory reagents, especially hazardous reagents.
SPECIMEN REQUIRED.
All human tissue excised at surgery, outpatient clinics,
and postmortems, fresh or in fixative,
along with a filled-out Tissue Examination Form
(U. S. Standard Form 515, USSF515).
REAGENTS, INSTRUMENTATION.
Flammable reagents.
Immunohistochemical kits.
Cryostat.
Clearing Xylene Substitute.
Acetone.
Flex (Alcohol substitute).
Immunohistochemical kits and reagents.
Cryostat.
Hematoxylin.
Eosin.
Flex 70%, 80%, 95%, 100%.
STEP-BY-STEP DESCRIPTION.
1. Flammable reagents are stored in yellow flame-proof containers in the storage room, Room 4D-135. A key to the storage room may be borrowed from the anatomic pathologist (Drs. Lee, Moore, Kao, Yfantis, or Alonsozana).
2. Clearing Xylene Substitute.
3. Acetone.
4. Flex (Alcohol substitute): kept under the Histomatic Processor.
5. Immunohistochemical kits and reagents are stored in a refrigerator
at 4o C to optimally maintain expected shelf life.
6. When received, reagents are dated with date of receipt, and with
the expiration date provided by the manufacturer. For those reagents with
no manufacturer-provided expiration (this would include chemicals such as
sodium chloride and acids) a 3 year expiration date is appended to the
container. Every reagent received comes labeled, but those reagents which
are prepared on site, are labeled at the time they are prepared. Formalin
containers are labeled with the chemical name and with a Poison label.
All chemicals and solutions used by the laboratory display a label
instructing what should be done in the event of direct exposure to the
chemical, in accordance with instructions included in the MSDS
(Materials Safety Data Sheet).
7. Cryostats are checked after each frozen section.
8. Hematoxylin and eosin are changed once a week. Filtered daily.
9. Flex 70%, 80%, 95% and 100% is changed after each frozen section
or daily. The pathologist may request that the frozen section fluids
be changed at the time of frozen section staining.
10. Checked daily:
10.1. Frosted slide holder is filled.
10.2. Permount is liquid and not hard.
10.3. Clearing is clear.
10.4. Coverslips are easy to pull apart and at close hand.
10.5. Cutting board is neat and clean at all times.
10.6. Temperature (by laboratory technician).
REFERENCE.
1. Prophet EB, Mills B, Arrington JB, Sobin LH.
Laboratory Methods in Histotechnology, pp. 67-70.
1992: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology,
Washington, DC. 20306-6000.
ISBN: 1-881041-00-X 1992.