CO2 incubator disinfection

[kmorris1 at opal.tufts.edu]

In article <9309207511.AA751142834 at ccmail.llu.edu>, dLee at CCMAIL.LLU.EDU (dLee) writes:
> 
> We have been having some difficulty with sporadic (no pun intended)
> mold contaminations in cell cultures in our CO2 incubator.
	[stuff deleted]
> What do your labs do to wash out an incubator before it is put into
> service?
> 
> Do you routinely disinfect your incubators?

  Only when it looks like we have a bad mold or fungus contamination.
 
> What disinfectants do you recommend for accessible surfaces?

  What we've been told to do is wash all shelves, walls, etc. with soap and
water and then with bleach.  Then you need to autoclave anything that can be 
taken out, twice.
  
> What sprays/gasses/etc can you recommend for inaccessible surfaces?

  We hire a company to formaldehyde treat the incubators.  Basically, they 
  seal off our tissue culture room, make everyone leave the lab, and turn on an
electric skillet full of formaldehyde.  They leave, come back several hours
later, and clean up.  The next day we wash down the sides and restart it. 
Works fairly well but is a pain to deal with.  My advisor says it's the only
way to kill spores, though.  Maybe she's wrong ?? :-)

Kelly Thome      kmorris1 at opal.tufts.edu
Dept of Pathology
Tufts Univ
Boston, MA 02111
> Dean Lee
> Microbiology Dept
> Loma Linda University
> dLee at ccmail.llu.edu