I had another blood draw today for my GD test and it made me curious- what happens to the blood after the lab tests it? How is it disposed?
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Worked in hospital lab for 17 years. First of all we keep all samples for a limited number of days. Tubes of blood are kept in a fridge for 7-10 days depending on the color top (additive) in the tube. Urine specimens are kept for 3 days.
We do this because more often then not your doctor will get your blood results and then fax us an order for additional testing. If we can we will pull the tube out and run the additional tests which saves many, many patients more needle pokes.
After the time frame they are dumped into a big biohazard bin like any other bio waste. Right along with microbiology plates and negative blood culture bottles.
hope this helps.
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