Dry Ice Packages

["William G. Nabor" <wgnabor@uci.edu>]

We at UCI treat our dry ice packages exactly as any other.  We open them and
swipe the outside of the inner container with a Q-tip and count in LSC.  We
have found that our dry ice shipments are neither more nor less likely to be
contaminated than non-frozen ones.  It is my OPINION that package
contamination occurs when they are filled at the plant, by spillage,
contaminated gloves, generally crapped up facilities, and the like, BEFORE
they are frozen.  Our researchers thaw the contents before use.  A
contaminated vial being defrosted is more likely to spread the contamination
by condensation dripping than a dry one.  Therefore, I feel it even more
important to check the dry ice packages.

   This does pose a few problems:  We must avoid frozen fingers, find ways
to reseat the lids (if any were opened), work quickly to prevent thawing,
paw through the dry ice and fog to make sure we got all the vials in the
box, and repackage in enough fresh dry ice to last until the researcher can
pick it up at our lab.  Never-the-less, it is part of the service we provide
our researchers and we will continue to check all packages.
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William G. Nabor
University of California, Irvine
EH&S Office
Irvine, CA,  92717-2725
WGNABOR@UCI.EDU
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