[Histonet] Re: Gloves for Microtomy

[Burrill, Jason]

Thanks Joe and I can remember that while attending Histology school at AFIP they said "It 's useless for you to wear gloves while coverslipping because they just melt in the Xylene so just use your bare hands".  Granted that we did not have access to Nitrile gloves in school, we only used latex, but we also did it on the counter with no ventilated workspace.  Although this was 12 years ago, I am pretty sure that the Lab Standard would have still applied since it went into affect in 1990.
 
Emily I am also in a research/diagnostic veterinary setting and act as the Lab Safety liaison for questions regarding the safe handling/disposal all chemicals and biological samples for not only the histology lab but also for Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Necropsy and Serology.  
 
Although you probably already know, I would assume that you are wearing gloves because the tissues that are collected are being sent for molecular diagnostic analysis and the gloves are used to prevent cross contamination, I also assume that you are spraying your gloves with RNase Away.  Although it is not the reason you are wearing gloves, their use for biosecurity reasons is a common practice in research institutions for handling animals that have little to no immune system because those types of animals are highly susceptible to contracting diseases from common bacteria and fungus.  If animals are exposed to certain microorganisms it can be a nightmare for the animal colony health if animals are housed together.  
 
Hope this helped.
 
 
Jason Burrill
Manager, Histology
Charles River Laboratories
251 Ballardvale St
Wilmington, MA 01887
Phone: 978-658-6000 ext. 1652
Fax: 978-988-8793
jason.burrill <@t> crl.com