Hexavalent - 8-9-2012 at 13:03
As well as chemistry, I also enjoy the odd bout of microscopy and microbiology. I have prepared a fair amount of my own slides, but looking for
something of higher quality, I selected these;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140622630044?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX...
and I choose the PS003 set (see item description). I have handled some microorganisms before on Petri dishes and just followed standard techniques.
This produced colonies of acceptable quality and was reasonable safe. However, my question is this; how much of a risk do these prepared slides pose?
Do I still need to follow proper procedures, e.g. disinfecting the worktop before and after using them, disinfecting the microscope stage and other
parts, wear a respirator mask etc??
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
zoombafu - 8-9-2012 at 13:15
I'm pretty sure that these microorganisms will be dead, so I don't think you have to worry about them. Also here's a link on the preparation of
bacterial smear slides.
http://www.drcarman.info/bio251lb/10lab251.pdf
Hexavalent - 8-9-2012 at 13:24
That's what I thought - but you can never be too careful.
Silly question, but - do you think they will be stained? I presume so, but it would be a pain in the buttocks to have to do it myself if they weren't.
zoombafu - 8-9-2012 at 14:41
Honestly I have no idea, but chances are they are stained. I haven't ever looked at 'prepared' slides that weren't.
drwahab - 21-9-2013 at 09:01
obviously an old thread...but for what it's worth my 2 cents are that they won't be stained
confused - 21-9-2013 at 09:12
so far all the prepared slides i've seen have been stained
if their using a stain, its probably dead, but theres no harm wiping down your workarea with ethanol once you're done, its a good habbit anyway
Mailinmypocket - 21-9-2013 at 09:20
Just in case anyone is interested, this thread reminded me that I have some slides for sale.
http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=22325
confused - 21-9-2013 at 10:16
as nice as they are, i dont have a microscope