PPE in biomedical research

[Todd Maxwell <toddmax@scripps.edu>]

While teaching our radiation orientation course to some new employees I was
confronted with the following question/statement.  The individual wanted to
know if it was common practice to glove only one hand when working in the
lab with radioactive materials.  He went on to tell me that it was becoming
more common (standard practice) in Europe from where he had just come.

Essentially the logic goes as follows.  The hand touching the vial, pipette
tips, potentially contaminated waste, etc. remains gloved whereas the hand
that holds the pipetter, pencils and paper for note-taking, phones,
instrument or door knobs, etc. remains gloveless to ensure that these
objects never become contaminated.

My question is not whether or not you agree with the logic but whether
anyone has ever heard of this practice and or uses it/allows it in their
research laboratories and under what circumstances.

Thank you in advance,





With great power...
+--------------------------------+
| Todd Maxwell                   |
| Safety Consultant, EH&S        |
| The Scripps Research Institute |
| 10550 North Torrey Pines Road  |
| mailcode BCC078                |
| La Jolla, California 92037     |
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| toddmax@scripps.edu            |
+--------------------------------+
   ...comes great responsibility.
                        -Stan Lee
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