Dear Gary,
It's my belief that paraffin shavings (in general) are not handled as
biohazardous waste, as they contain fixed material.  Jeff is right
regarding C-J, however a case where C-J is suspected is also usually
handled a little differently and the paraffin waste would be handled as
biohazardous.  This, of course opens the Pandora's box of realistically
defining and practicing "universal precautions"...if they're "universal",
then all cases are suspected of being infected with the "most of the worst"
and should be handled as such.  This is an interesting topic and I'd be
interested in how others handle the "logistic realities" of handling
everything as "maximally contaminated".  As for a good reference book, I
LOVE the one Lynn Montgomery's written (available through ASCP Press) and
had just called ASCP last week to see if a 2nd edition will be coming out,
as I'd like to add the "latest-up-to-datest" to my personal library.  Ms
Lynn, are you here?  Also, while I'm on the safety topic, is there any more
information on a BOR Safety Certification?  I saw a note about it a few
weeks ago, have seen nothing about it on HistoNet since, and there is no
information on the ASCP BOR page.
~Francie~

FGALLERY@neurobio.sunysb.edu

Department of Neurobiology & Behavior, SUNY at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY
Histology Department, Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office, Hauppauge,
NY