Footpedals for Sinks

["Sue M. Dupre" <DUPRE%PUCC.bitnet@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu>]

Good morning, all!  At the beginning of the month I placed an inquiry out to
you concerning the presence and desirability of footpedals on sinks in radio-
isotope labs at your facilities.  I made my inquiry because a faculty member
here at Princeton has been insistent that our labs should be routinely fitted
with sinks with footpedals.  When I made my inquiry, I'd promised to provide a
summary of the comments I received:

Of the 14 responses I received, no one worked or had ever been at an institu-
tion at which radioisotope sinks are routinely provided with footpedals.  Many
commented that they had seen an occasional "hot" lab (high activity lab) with
footpedal sinks.  No one expressed a strong opinion that labs should routinely
be provided with such sinks, and some expressed strong reservations about their
usefulness.  One person commented that, because the pressure is more difficult
to learn to adjust with footpedals than with hand faucets, you may wind up with
a contaminated ceiling or surroundings, if you place a tube under the faucet.
Someone from the UK indicated that elbow-operated taps are commonly used in
higher activity areas ("higher activity" was not defined).  It seemed to be the
common reaction that contamination of faucet handles is not a great enough
problem to justify the greater expense and the potential problems associated
with footpedals.  I think our experience at Princeton over the decades has
borne that out, as well.

Two of the comments I received also addressed the wisdom of allowing sewer dis-
posal under circumstances in which the researchers themselves are allowed to
release wastes using sinks in their labs.  When we decided to initiate sewer
disposal, we thought LONG and HARD about whether to allow researchers to use
their own sinks or whether to collect liquids and dispose of them through a
central sink.  The considerations that caused us to choose the first option
was concern about the potential for spillage and contamination likely to result
when lab personnel are pouring liquids (some of which are in trays and not easy
to pour from) into carboys or other collection containers.  The other major
factor was our belief that sinks in labs are going to be contaminated anyway,
even if we absolutely prohibit the release of radioactive materials through the
sinks:  there may be intentional disregard of the rules, there may be acciden-
tal spillage, and I believe that researchers will still clean contaminated
equipment in the sinks.  I believe that our program will give us better con-
trol over the number of sinks that become contaminated and will reduce the
number of sinks in each lab that are contaminated.

Granted, our sewer disposal program has only been in effect since early this
year, but I have no reason yet to regret it.  I have provided extensive and
thorough training on a lab-by-lab basis.  Providing training to these small
groups has been invaluable because I can look every researcher in the face and
make sure that they're awake, comprehending, and registering the importance of
compliance with our program.  I feel that we've received unusually good coop-
eration to date from our researchers in operating this program.

Please feel free to send your comments or questions about sewer disposal to me.
Just as in any other issue, be aware that every approach has its advantages and
disadvantages!

Regards,

Sue Dupre/Health Physicist/Princeton University
dupre@princeton.edu

The views expressed in this message are mine alone; this message has not been
reviewed or approved by my management.