[Histonet] RE: RE:Blade Rationing

[Jonathan Cremer]

Do you know that you can buy graduated glass pipettes which can be washed and reused many, many, many, many times, made for that exact purpose? You can also autclave them, or bake them at 180 °C for sterility.
At least you wouldn't have the issue of components starting to leach from the plastic after reusing them several times...

I'd rather consider resharpening disposable blades instead of washing dispoble plastic pipettes.
---
Jonathan Cremer
Laboratory Technician


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Van: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu [histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu] namens Smith, Allen [asmith <@t> mail.barry.edu]
Verzonden: dinsdag 18 juni 2013 16:53
To: histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
Onderwerp: [Histonet] RE:Blade Rationing

I run an academic lab on a very tight budget.  A paper towel used to dry washed hands is used again.  Outdated dye solutions are adsorbed onto a small pile of old paper towels to save on waste disposal costs.  (A quarter-pound of solid waste costs less to dispose of than 2 liters of aqueous liquid waste.)  Disposable pipettes are washed and reused until the numbers wear off.  I make up Vector's ImmPact SG 1.7 ml a time, store it in the fridge, and use it all week.  I don't save on microtome blades.    Dull blades leave holes in 4 micron  sections.  Sections cut with a dull blade have the annoying habit of exploding on  the water bath.  Dull blades tease out collagen fibers and drape them over the cells I'm trying to study.  When a blade is dull it goes into the sharps box.
-Allen A. Smith, Ph.D.
  Barry University School of Podiatric Medicine
Miami Shores, FL
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