I recently posed this very same question to our campus Dept. of Occupational Safety & Health. They go by the OSHA permissible exposure limits (100 ppm for xylene, 1000 ppm for ethanol) which do not distingquish between pregnant and non-pregnant individuals. I was somewhat relieved to learn that we are not required to re-assign pregnant staff however we have tried to be sensitive to the issue by informally trying to limit the individual's exposure here.

regards,


Vinnie Della Speranza
Manager for Anatomic Pathology Services
Medical University of South Carolina
165 Ashley Avenue
Suite 309
Charleston, SC  29425
ph:  (843) 792-6353
fax: (843) 792-8974
email: Dellav@musc.edu

>>> Kathy Gorham <kathyg@eoni.com> 02/06/01 09:01PM >>>
Good morning fellow histotechs,
Another few questions from Eastern Oregon.  Do you have a protocol for
pregnant histotechs? ? ?  Are they allowed to continue to work as usual?
The lab manager just presented me with an article that xylene is a risk to
the unborn child.  (like I don't know how dangerous our chemicals are) And
wants me to investigate replacements for  xylene.  I tried several
substitutes years ago and went back to xylene.   Do you use a xylene
substitute?  Which one?  How do you handle the concern for the techs who
are in their child bearing years if you use xylene?   Thanks for your
expertise once again.

Kathy Gorham, H.T.
Grande Ronde Hospital
Ls Grande, Oregon