[Histonet] Powdered reagent expiration dates

[Angela Bitting]

Coincidentally, I had a question on this subject this morning. We rec'd in some oxalic acid and phoshotungstic acid, neither of which had expiration dates. I called Fisher and they looked it up for me and told me their expiration and offered to send it to me in writing, if I wanted. (it was 3-5 years from the manufacture date.) I was recently told by another tech that she thought 5 years was the shelf life of powders, but I wanted to see if that held true. Moral of the story is that it never hurts to call the manufacturer.

Angela Bitting, HT(ASCP), QIHC
Technical Specialist, Histology
Geisinger Medical Center 
100 N Academy Ave. MC 23-00
Danville, PA 17822
phone  570-214-9634
fax  570-271-5916 
 
No trees were hurt in the sending of this email
However many electrons were severly inconvienienced!


>>> Pat Laurie <foreightl <@t> gmail.com> 7/26/2010 1:27 PM >>>
We were inspected by CAP on friday and we were cited for


ANP.21366  *Are reagents and solutions properly labeled, as applicable and
appropriate, with the following elements?*

* *

1.      *Content and quantity, concentration or titer*

2.      *Storage requirements*

3.      *Date prepared or reconstituted by laboratory*

4.      *Expiration date*

Specifically that our staining powders didn't have an expiration date
printed on the bottle. All of our reconsituted reagents which are in
use were dated with an expiration date properly though. I have always
assumed, perhaphs incorrectly, that powdered stains never expire.  We have
powders like Luxol Echt Blau, etc. that were purchased and opened over 40
years ago.    If so, then these powdered reagents have gone through CAP
inspections since the beginning and this inspector was the first one to find
this problem.  Is this one that we might protest?

-- 
Patrick Laurie HT(ASCP)QIHC
CellNetix Pathology & Laboratories
1124 Columbia Street, Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98104
PH: 206-215-5949
plaurie <@t> cellnetix.com 
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