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?
In: 1465
So to preface, I work in a lab in the UK.
Samples are received into the lab, barcoded so they can be identified and have their specific tests ran. Once the process is complete, they’re either referred to other labs for specialist tests if they’ve been requested, or placed into storage racks and refrigerated. The amount of time in storage varies between labs, but where I work we keep most samples from between four days, to a week just incase the doctors need to perform any follow up testing.
Once that time is up (unless someone intervenes*), samples are removed from the racks and placed into sealed orange biohazard bins with the other hazardous waste. This waste is then collected by the estates department at the hospital and taken for on site incineration. Other blood products are disposed of in a similar way, for example if a unit of blood for transfusion expires, it’s disposed of via the same route.
* Generally the only people who ever intervene are the police or a coroner, doctors can take another sample if they require additional tests, but the police/coroner may require blood from a specific time period for evidence. These samples are isolated until a court orders their release. For example, I had a gentleman who died after an RTA, the police ordered his blood be kept as evidence in order to determine if he was under the influence.
Latest Answers