Here's a message Bernice asked me to post to you all:

Hi histonetters,
Just wanted to weigh in on the subject of decontaminating the cryostat.
Instrumedics has a vacuum system (Cryo-Vac-Away) for the cryostat which is
not a true decontaminating system  but goes a very long way toward
protection  of the operator and the laboratory from infectious material
generated in a cryostat.
 All the trimming debris generated  when facing off the frozen block is
suctioned away at the blockface and captured in a canister which contains a
fine and coarse filter.
 Downstream of the primary filters  is a secondary  bacterial filter which
will capture pathogens, bacterial or viral, that escape the debris. The
filter system is inside the cryostat.
The debris does not leave the cryostat where is can cause problems!
The cryostat remains spotless and the biohazards associated with sectioning
infectious material very substantially reduced.

Bernice Schiller
schiller@instrumedics.com



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