Re: Chemical expiration

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From:rkline@emindustries.com (by way of histonet)
To:histonet <histonet@magicnet.net>
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We often get this question from customers.

Manufacturers cannot control mother nature.  The quality of of some
products may be affected by atmospheric contact which can occur each time a
lid is taken off a bottle.  For this reason even expiration dated products
should have received, open dates, and an expiration date established by the
end-user available for personnel to use in order to assure the product
still has viability.
An example would be Schiff's reagent.  The expiration date on the label
maybe one year but once it is open it may turn pink before that date.

Products without expiration dates are products that have unlimited
expiration as long as they remain unopened and stored under the recommended
conditions.  Expiration should be user defined.

Em Science recommends that a customer keep a list of the receiving date and
the date the product was first opened for use.  You can also just put this
data on the label with the initials of the person how opened it.
Decomposition data is available on MSDS's. Depending upon the nature of the
product, review the appearance and quality on a regualr basis. Physical
changes are sometimes easily detectable because of liquefaction or color
differences which may be used as a guide to determine when a material is no
longer usable.  An SOP should be established for replacement after a given
period of time. This is would take care of regulatory inquiries from CAP or
anyone else.

I hope this helps.

Rande Kline HT ( A.S.C.P.)
Technical Services
EM Science
rkline@emscience.com







"Willis, Donna" <DonnaWillis@hmhs.com> on 10/28/98 10:21:00 AM

To:   histonet@pathology.swmed.edu
cc:   "Stengel, Gaylene" <GayleneStengel@hmhs.com>
Subject:  Chemical expiration




To All,
Can anyone out in Histo Land give me any CAP, OSHA, CLIA or JCAHO
regulations that require that bulk chemical have an expiration date
written on the bulk bottle.  If this is a regulation why doesn't the
manufacture place the date on the bottles for us.

Thanks,
Donna Willis
Histology Lab Manager
Harris Methodist Fort Worth.




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