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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MY TIME HAS COME.
Human blood (unless there are particularly scary pathogens known to be involved) is rated at a BSL-2 level of biohazard, and there are two general routes by which you can dispose of it.
The first is to sterilize it… dumping leftover blood into bleach and wiping down any blood-contaminated surfaces with a 10% bleach solution is pretty standard. I’ve seen some biosafety training courses allowing for the use of isopropyl alcohol instead, but bleach is safer since it actively destroys pathogenic spores.
The second route is to immobilize the blood into a solid. This requires mixing the blood with a kind of sand-like powder that soaks up the blood and turns it into a solid phase. This is then dumped in a red biohazard bin. These bins are designed such that when closed, they lock and cannot be reopened again.
And let’s not forget the plasticware and other disposables that have been contaminated with blood. Dump these things in a biohazard bin as well. You then call up a special biohazard disposal company to take it away for incineration.
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