RE: contamination fo centrifuges

["George Rawls" <george@pliny.ehs.ufl.edu>]

Jim,

We struggled with this problem for years but have now all but 
eliminated large, recurring contamination in small, benchtop 
centrifuges.  
Since I suspected that the contamination was not all caused by 
leaking vials or snap caps which opened during the spins, I asked for 
cooperation from some of the worst offenders.  They were asked to 
call us when preparing vials for a spin.  The outside of the vials 
were swiped after preparation but before the spin.

We found that almost all of the vials were being contaminated on the 
outside during preparation by poor pipetting technique, poor glove 
use or drips when the caps were snapped closed.  The contamination 
was then being slung off onto the barrel of the fuge.  We got some 
flack from lab personnel until it was proven, especially from the old 
hands.

We immediately started covering this in our Radiation Safety Short 
Course for all new users each term and got the word out to the 
offenders.  The result was a dramatic downturn in fuge contamination 
events, especially large ones.

I don't believe we will ever eliminate the problem completely, but 
this has worked for us in a big way.  By the way, the first step in 
this investigation was a call to fuge manufacturers who told me that 
the only reasons contamination should be inside of a fuge is either 
an unbalanced load, a vial contaminated on the outside before the 
spin, or a failed part in the vial holding system of the fuge.

Good hunting.

George Rawls
Health Physicist
University of Florida
grawls@pliny.ehs.ufl.edu
George Rawls
University of Florida
Health Physicist