I am not a histo tech, I am the safety officer at our lab, and have a
few questions I hope you can help with.

When you send your paraffin blocks to other labs, do you just place
them into a ziploc bag and then into the mailing folder (UPS, FED-EX,
USPS, etc.)?  Or do you handle/package them in some special manner?
Do you mark the shipping container as a biohazard?  If so, is there
any problem with shippers accepting these items?

I posed the question a few days ago about disposal of paraffin blocks.
All but one lab disposed of them as biohazards.  Are they to be
treated as biohazards whenever they are handled (i.e. should the histo
techs wear gloves when they are handling the blocks)?  Or is their
disposal as a biohazard merely a precaution to keep them from:
{a} turning up in the wrong place (i.e. children getting them from a
dumpster)?
{b} public relation/perception problem re: medical waste?

Thank you in advance for any help you might be able to provide.

CATHY