Dangers of bloodborne pathagins in the lab

Bloodborne pathogens pose a very realistic and dangerous threat in the lab.  Bloodborne pathogens are described as pathogenic microorganisms that are present in human blood and can cause disease in humans.  Examples of bloodborne pathogens include HIV, Hepatitis B, and more.  Often times in the lab when working with blood (animal or human) samples may be contaminated with pathogens that can be contracted by humans.  This risk is amplified greatly in labs that have a focus on bloodborne pathogens.  A lab worker who comes in contact with contaminated blood may contract an illness that could prove fatal. Often times, the origin of the blood is unknown/undisclosed.  In many circumstances, the blood can come from someone who did not know they had a disease carried in the blood. We see this with HIV/AIDS infections as well as Hepatitis. 

A lab that does this very task exists at Ohio University.  Aside from the professor that directs this lab, most of the people working in the lab are students.  This increases the risk greatly.  It is known that some of the most dangerous labs are labs in education.   In this case we are talking about mainly college labs. The reason these labs are so dangerous is because students and teaching assistant are often not concerned with safety, or just unaware of the risks.  Many times, even the professor heading the lab or program is more concerned on the work being done, than the safety in the lab.  In our short tour of the bloodborne pathogens lab at Ohio University, several shortcomings of safety became apparent.  Many reasons for this were strictly economical.  The blood samples and blood components are stored in a regular everyday refrigerator at the lab.  Technically, the lab is to have a special lab refrigerator, but due to the expense of one, the lab has a normal everyday refrigerator. 

Because of the nature of the work done in the lab, it produces biological waste.  This waste is to be autoclaved and disposed.  Because the lab does not have an autoclave, the waste is taken care of by an outside company.  This is an expensive service, so most of the time; biological waste is not disposed of in the recommended amount of time.  Something I found surprising is that the lab is actually aloud to dump some waste down the drain.  The blood contaminated samples sit in a solution to sterilize them.  The solution is than mixed with bleach, diluted with water, and sent down the drain.  What I found most alarming was that a blood solution that was waiting to be disposed sat in Tropicana fruit drink containers on the counter.  In fact, there were several of these containers.  Not only was this mixture in a container that usually holds a drink meant for humans to consume, but it was also a appealing red color that you may expect a fruit juice to be.  This was so alarming to me because I can very easily see someone mistaking this for a drink for humans.  The bottle was labeled with a faded “skull and cross bones” draw with a permanent marker. The drawing was very small and hard to notice against the red color.  Also while students at this particular lab are told to put on a lab coat, it is not enforced.  The students are aware of the location of the lab coats, and told they are suppose to have them on but usually do not utilize them.  You can see there are some obvious safety shortcomings at the bloodborne pathogens lab.  Many of which are from lack of funding, but some of which are negligence.