[Histonet] Talk to me about shelf life and outdates

[Elizabeth Chlipala]

Cheryl

We are not a clinical lab, but we are GLP compliant.  This is how we deal with dry chemicals and stains.  A lot of times they do not come with an expiration date.  If no expiration date/retest date is listed we give them an expiration date/retest date of 5 years post receipt.   After that date we place them in a special area that is marked - Past Retest Date - Do not use until retested.   We have a reagent control SOP that explains all of this.  I'm not familiar with the "Good until used" designation.  For retest we just run a special stain that contains a solution prepared from the chemical and if it stains appropriately we give that chemical a new expiration/retest date and just make sure we document the process appropriately.  We just initiated this SOP recently so have not yet had to perform any retests.   We update our chemical inventory as new chemicals are ordered, but once a year we review and check all our chemicals for inventory and that we have updated MSDS's available.  I can send a pdf of our reagent control SOP if you would like it.  If you are striving to be a GLP compliant lab and are heading to NSH convention this year I'll be giving a workshop on GLP compliance in the histology lab with our Facility Quality Assurance Manager.

Liz

Elizabeth A. Chlipala, BS, HTL(ASCP)QIHC
Laboratory Manager
Premier Laboratory, LLC
PO Box 18592
Boulder, CO 80308
Work (303) 682-3949
Fax (303) 682-9060
Cell (303) 881-0763
liz <@t> premierlab.com
www.premierlab.com

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1567 Skyway Drive, Unit E
Longmont, CO 80504



-----Original Message-----
From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] On Behalf Of Cheryl
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 4:25 PM
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Subject: [Histonet] Talk to me about shelf life and outdates

We're prepping for an inspection and I have a small amount of older powdered dyes and substances we can't get any more.    They're dated 'Good until used'.

Would someone elaborate on how we came to have outdates on things that never had them before, and how those outdates are determined?

Is there a procedure or policy you might share so we can keep our old but good items in service until we run out rather than in 12 months (EEEK!!!)

Many thanks!

Cheryl


Cheryl Kerry, HT(ASCP)
Full Staff Inc.
Staffing the AP Lab by helping one GREAT Tech at a time.
281.852.9457 Office
800.756.3309 Phone & Fax
admin <@t> fullstaff.org

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