Is this paraffin too gross?

[dilly]

Okay, so I work in a histology lab, and like many of you I am always looking for ways to reduce waste and use things.

One of the things that is done in a histology lab is embedding tissue in paraffin to allow it to be cut thin enough to put on a slide for microscopic viewing.

This creates waste paraffin that is leftover from prepping the tissue. Basically tissue samples have been inside but are removed from this paraffin while it was molten. It visually looks clean

Anyway, I could have all the paraffin I could ever need for fluxing or maybe bullet lube (if I found a recipe) if I were to take the waste from the processing machines, but I wonder if you guys think that is too gross.

I have mixed feelings about whether this is a weird thing to do or not.

[Shiloh]

As someone who works in a hospital, I would not bring ANYTHING home that could possibly have had contact with blood, tissue or other body fluids. Histology lab, pathology lab, or from the O.R. Don't take the chance of bringing home some pathogen you don't know about.

SHiloh

[btroj]

Sounds like hazardous waste to me

[rmatchell]

Sometimes free things are not worth it. If you wanted to use paraffin its cheap enough. I have used it as a flux and it was very messy, and I haven't heard much good about it in lubes but have never tried myself.

[dilly]

Oh, this tissue has all been fixed with formalin before any of this happens. Formalin is an incredibly potent antiviral, anti fungal, and antibacterial agent, so it's pretty well neutralized at this point. Pathogens don't survive that.

[madsenshooter]

Gotta agree, paraffin is cheap and despite the fact that we humans think we're the superior beings, the real masters of this earth are microbes. Anyone care for a little SV40? Someone can take some of mine to flux with. Well, don't wanna be too cryptic, fact is from 55-63 our polio vaccines were contaminated with a cancer causing monkey virus. Glad I live in the headwaters of the US! The polio viruses or mycoplasma might be a better term, used to make the vaccines were killed with formalin too, but obviously something lived through it.

[btroj]

Formalin isn't something I want in a lube or a flux.

Pass

[badbob454]

i would use it but i would heat it up to 180 degrees for @ 5 minutes or near the smoke level .. in my smelter then strain it if needed through a worn out t shirt or a finly woven cloth , then i think it would be safe ...

[Swamp Man]

Not that I think it's gross but I wouldn't remove anything from a lab setting such as that.

[psychicrhino]

Meh, unless you feel ok about rubbing some in your loved ones eye I wouldnt do it.

[Gibbs44]

The heck with gross. Is it even legal to remove a possible bio-hazard? I'd think about that, and then still probably not use it. Parafin is too cheap and readily available to recycle something like that.

[littlejack]

If you are that broke, and cannot afford any paraffin, I will send you some or a candle. If you want to flux your melt, use sawdust, most of us do, and it is the best for doing so. It's free.
Regards
Jack

[TheGrimReaper]

Not that I think it's gross but I wouldn't remove anything from a lab setting such as that. Yea, me too. The heat and fire will kill the critters, but.......it is the sitting there till then I wouldn't like!!!!

[jonp]

I am a real yankee cheapskate and always look for ways to avoid throwing anything I can possibly use out so I commend you for seeing the paraffin and saying "wait a minute". However, I have worked in several labs and it was always standard protocal to destroy anything that contacted human parts for testing. I'm surprised they would agree to let you take it after use. I agree its safe but I wouldnt do it considering the price of paraffin.

[Bigslug]

Here we are all playing with toxic heavy metals for a hobby and getting freaked out by a few dead meat bits.

I don't know the toxic issues associated with formalin, or how the formalin might be infused with the paraffin. Sort those issues out and those of proper (i.e. legal) disposal to your satisfaction. I understand that disposal of medical waste involves burning, which is exactly what you intend to do, and in a fashion that actually produces a useful end product. If there's no hurdles, I say go for it.

The Fight Club aspect of this amuses me greatly. . .

[1Shirt]

As a former Health & Safety Director at a university, I would definately classify it as hazardous waste!
1Shirt!

[Bwana]

Provided you heated it and strained it, as was mentioned, I would not have any problems using it. Mine is heated when I melt the three ingredients to make my lube. It is heated again when I melt it in the the soup cans to pour into the lubrisizer.
I would hate to live next door to an "environmentalist". They would would make a casters life hell. "You're "smelting" what? "You have how many pounds of lead in your garage?" "You know the wind is blowing that at my house?" Etc,etc,etc.

[Raven_Darkcloud]

Dude, paraffin wax is only $2.99-3.99 a pound in the canning section. Tea candles can be had from a dollar store in bags.

[mdi]

Some things may be worth salvaging, but something as easy to get and as cheap as paraffin, nope. When you go to the grocery store to get T.P. and beer, stop by the canning section and pick up a lb. of paraffin...

[Shiloh]

Sounds like hazardous waste to me

Thats how the hospital treats it here!! Goes in a red Biohazard bag.

Shiloh

[Shiloh]

Oh, this tissue has all been fixed with formalin before any of this happens. Formalin is an incredibly potent antiviral, anti fungal, and antibacterial agent, so it's pretty well neutralized at this point. Pathogens don't survive that.

I'll buy you a brick of paraffin. PM me.
STAY AWAY from a potential biohazard!!

Shiloh

[Mark1174]

And while you're at it, tell Igor to stay away from the jar marked "Cerebro Dysfunctio"

[Shiloh]

Here we are all playing with toxic heavy metals for a hobby and getting freaked out by a few dead meat bits..

Scavenged lead doesn't usually harbor infectious medical bio-hazard or bio-burden.
Formaldehyde (Formalin) is nasty stuff as well.

Shiloh

[jonp]

http://www.hercenter.org/rmw/mo-rmw.cfm

This seems to suggest that after further treatment in the lab and certification of treatment it is safe to dispose of. They reference a disposal site like a dump but do not address taking it out of the lab for personal use. I guess if the lab treats it by incineration it would be of no use to you but the second method of steam sterilization might, however that would make quite a mess of the paraffin and for a semi-solid like paraffin complete melting would have to be done to treat all parts of it so the state might want it incinerated. If done it might be legal or it might not and this depends on the state you are in. The University Labs I have worked in avoid all of this by employing a contract carrier to do all of this for them like Stericycle, XMED or MedPro.

Simple answer would be to contact the state department dealing with infectious waste or one of the above companies and ask them. Even simpler answer would be to trot down to the Wal Mart and buy a couple of pounds and save yourself the potential headaches and massive fines improper disposal of infectious wastes would bring you.

[44man]

Paraffin is too cheap to fool with. My wife found me a 20# block for $2. I flux with it and it will last me forever.
Don't bring dangerous stuff home.

[olafhardt]

Don't know why you need to strain it, the tissue will also act as flux. You could swipe about any thing out of the labs that I worked in, ran, or owned. Knew of one guy that made nitroglycerine to attach to his targets. Once the drug craze really hit, there was no way to keep a triple beam balance in stock. How many get lead from the job?

[dudits]

if you are really that cheap, bring it home the day you intend to use it.
leaving it sit around is what would bother me the most.

but like others have said, go to wally and buy a lb.

[NVScouter]

Well #1 as has been said its hazardous waste and the company has a policy to dispose of it properly. That should be followed in order to keep your job. Who cares about a few dollars saved if you get canned for not following policy and start an OSHA investigation.

Also the parafin you have access to is a mix with a high oil content for imedding. It melts at a much lower point and stays flexible.

As far as lube goes I have about 20# of my lube that cost me under $25 to make and at this rate it may last me forever.

[milkman]

dilly
My son runs a histo lab and I serviced lab instruments for years. The paraffin removed from the instruments was never considered bio hazard in any of the labs I visited and I have been finding uses for it for years. I don't use it for lube but it makes very good fire starters when mixed with sawdust or used to saturate newspaper. Mix melted paraffin with sawdust in a Styrofoam cup with a piece of cotton cord in it for a wick and it will burn 10 - 15 minutes, start easily in the rain, start a fire without kindling and will last in the open weather for years and still start a fire.

Milkman

[jimb16]

I think I'm going to demand a certificate of health from that next deer......

[warf73]

How does the company you work for label it as?
If its common trash aka landfill bound(thrown in waste basket) then use the heck out of it.
Now if its considered bio then you better not touch it. There are several laws (federal and state) against illegal disposal of biohazards.

[NVScouter]

How does the company you work for label it as?
If its common trash aka landfill bound(thrown in waste basket) then use the heck out of it.
Now if its considered bio then you better not touch it. There are several laws (federal and state) against illegal disposal of biohazards.

They better lable it as follows:

Infectious medical waste includes the following wastes:

Pathology wastes including tissues, organs, body parts and body fluids that are removed during surgery and autopsy. All such wastes must be considered infectious waste and include are animal carcasses, body parts and bedding from animals contaminated with infectious agents capable of being transmitted to a human host.

Then for disposal:

Infectious waste treated to render it innocuous may be disposed as a solid waste provided the treater certifies to the transporter, if other than the generator, and certifies to the sanitary landfill operator or processing facility operator that the waste has been rendered innocuous.

And you can only do that in Missouri by these two means:

Incineration; and
Steam sterilization.
So formulin follows this:

Chemical sterilization and other types of treatment may be approved by the department on a case-by-case basis.

Thats all quoted from the above link but you can check OSHA and CAP for the national standards.

For those of you who dont know the parafin is used to hold ultra thin shavings of tissue samples for study. These samples run a range from healthy to highly infectious. High level disinfectants are highly costic stuff by nature so this used parafin includes: Parafin, mineral oil, human tissue, and formulin.

Here are the ingrediants in it:

Section 2. Composition/Information on Ingredients
Component CAS # OSHA PEL ACGIH TLV
Other Limits
Recommended Percent
Formaldehyde 50-00-0 0.75 ppm C 0.3 mg/m3 3-4
Methyl Alcohol 67-56-1 200 ppm 250 ppm 1-1.5
Sodium Phosphate Monobasic 10049-21-5 N/A N/A <1
Monohydrate
Sodium Phosphate Dibasic 7558-79-4 N/A N/A <1
Water, Deionized 7732-18-5 N/A N/A Balance

Note ingrediant #1. Embalming fluid, also getting used by teens to dip joints into for a nasty high that sometimes kills them. If you work with a chemical you really should know what it is.