[Histonet] Re: Pregnancy

[Caroline Miller]

I was recently pregnant (I have a happy and healthy 8month old). I work in a research lab and did come in contact with xylene at 12 weeks when our processor went crazy and we had a whole batch of processing go wrong on us.

I was pretty scared that the xylene had affected the baby so I got a xylene exposure badge from the h+s dept and we did a test. Even with the stainer open and the mounting  hood at its top
limit we didn't even come close to the legal limit of xylene exposure. 

I suppose my point is that new fume hoods do their job really well. I would certainly stay away from changing the
Machine

Caroline Miller
Gladstone Institutes
www.gladstoneinstitutes.org

Tel: 415 7342566
Cell: 415 2187297




On Mar 6, 2013, at 7:33 AM, Bob Richmond <rsrichmond <@t> gmail.com> wrote:

> Helayne Parker is concerned about a woman 5 weeks pregnant working in
> an ordinary histopathology lab.
> 
> I think the major issue is xylene (along with toluene and benzene). If
> the lab uses xylene in tissue processing and staining, I don't think
> she should be around it. If the lab is otherwise xylene-free, the
> mounting medium probably contains an aromatic hydrocarbon, and I don't
> think she should be coverslipping even under a proper hood, since
> xylene is readily absorbed through the skin.
> 
> I think formaldehyde depends on ventilation. If the lab's as badly
> ventilated as most labs I work in, then I wouldn't want her to be
> around it.
> 
> She should definitely run the problem past her OB-GYN, but I wouldn't
> want to put her doctor in the position of having to decide for her,
> simply because the problem is so far out of the doctor's field of
> expertise. Remember that very few pathologists (let alone clinicians)
> know as much about the materials science of histology as I do!
> 
> Bob Richmond
> Samurai Pathologist
> Maryville, TN
> 
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