RE: Foot Pedals on Sinks

[VERNIG.PETER@FORUM.VA.GOV]

{Original Msg: 'Foot Pedals on Sinks' from <root@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu>
{
{Good morning!  We've implemented a sewer disposal program in which each labora-
{tory is allowed to designate a sink to be used for the disposal of limited
{amounts of radioactivity.  During the implementation phase, I went from lab to
{lab to provide training regarding our new sewer disposal program.  In one of
{these sessions, a principal investigator argued (with some vehemence) that all
{sinks in a laboratory, but especially the designated sink, should be fitted
{with foot pedals.  If I remember correctly, he said that the institution he had
{been at previously had footpedals on their sinks.
{
{I think we've got something like 3-5 sinks here at Princeton with footpedals,
{and those sinks are all in rooms which were designed to be "hot" rooms, where
{nuclear chemistry or particularly hot work was going to be done.  So I'm won-
{dering:  how common is it for radioisotope laboratories to have sinks with
{footpedals?  I would like to hear from you if the labs at your institution do
{routinely have footpedals on their sinks.  I'd like to hear from you if you
{have strong feelings one way or the other.  This may be of general interest so
{I'd suggest that more general remarks on this subject be posted to the list
{and specific comments as to whether you do or do not have footpedals on your
{sinks be posted directly to me.  I will provide a summary to the list of the
{responses I receive.  Thanks for your help.
{
{Regards,
{
{Sue Dupre/Health Physicist/Princeton University
{dupre@princeton.edu
 
 
I work in a medical center [VA] with about 20 PIs doing research with
radioisotopes, mostly using milicurie or sub millicurie quantities.
Most of the  of the researchers are physicians and none of the labs have
foot pedals on sinks.  None of the PIs have ever requested or even 
inquired about foot pedals.  I can see that if your hands were con-
taminated the pedals would be nice.  I don't see why they would be a
big advantage for a disposal sink.  Our Nuclear Medicine "Hot Lab"
has a sink with foot pedals.  There on Mondays the Mo/Tc generator
yields about 1.4 curies of Tc-99m.  That was the arrangement when I
got here, I didn't make the decision.
 
I used to work for U.C. Berkeley, I was the HP for the Research Reactor
and inspected dozens of the labs there.  I never saw a sink with a foot
pedal there.  They have hundreds of labs so I won't say there isn't one.
I sure never saw one in the Life Sciences building and am reasonably sure
the new LSB Annex which was completed but not occupied when I left did
not have them.  BTW LSB had the largest concentration of users.
 
My feeling is foot pedals are a "nice to have" item becoming more nice
tending towards necessity as the amount of material and the likelyhood
of contamination goes up.  As I said before I do not wee there big
advantage for a disposal sink.  BTW U.C.B. has researchers that use sink
disposal.
 
The standard infection control hand washing procedure could be modified
to address a person with suspected or actual hand contamination.  The
normal procedure is to get towels accessible wash in warm water for
at least 15 seconds [warm water & time address bio decon], wipe hands
with towels and use the towels to touch the water faucet handles to
turn off the water.  The modification would be to use the towels to
turn on the water also, and of course check the towel dispenser for
contamination.
 
Disclaimer:  Opinions are mine alone and do not represent opinion or
policy of the Denver VA Medical Center, Dept. of VEterans Affairs, or
the U.S. Government.
 
Peter Vernig, vernig.peter@forum.va.gov
 
 
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VA Medical Center, 1055 Clermont St. MS 115 - DISCLAIMER
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