What is a spore trip?
Spore strips are small strips of filter paper with bacteria spores injected onto them. The spore strips are placed inside an autoclave alone with the equipment and tools you need to sterilize. The strip is then taken out and sent to a lab to test against a control strip to ensure that the sterilization process is working correctly.
Why do you need spore strips?
It’s essential to regularly test that your instrument sterilizer is working properly and using spore strips is the best way to do so. There are also different state regulations on how to ensure that you maintain sterile equipment in your practice whether it’s for tattoo, veterinary, or dental sterilization. Our process of autoclave testing allows you to have peace of mind that your sterilization equipment is doing its’ job and your customers and clients are safe from harmful bacteria.
Who needs spore strip testing? - This product is for
Spore strip testing is used by a variety of facilities that have regulations in place to make sure that their equipment is being properly sterilized for the safety of the public. Examples of places that need to use spore strip testing are: dentist offices, tattoo shops, salons, veterinary offices, and any other facility that uses autoclave testing for equipment sterilization. Most states in the U.S. have regulations for these places to make sure that customers and clients are protected from harmful bacteria that can easily go undetected without proper testing of autoclave sterilization processes. We offer a certificate of passing the spore strip test which can be presented in the case of an audit.
How do you use a spore strip test? - How it works
1. Remove the strip from the envelope and place it in the sterilizer at the point most difficult to be sterilized, such as the back corner. Please do not, however, run the entire test kit through the sterilizer.
2. Run your autoclave sterilizer according to normal procedure.
3. Fill in all the required information on the envelope.
4. Remove the test strip from the sterilizer and place it into the indicated pocket on the envelope. Seal the pocket and send the envelope back to Whatcom Pathology Laboratory in the return envelope provided.
NOTE: Test strips need to be used before their noted expiration date.
Turnaround Time
Once we receive your spore test strip, results will be ready in 8-9 days. Results are given a pass/fail result and we will notify you of a failure via phone and passing via email.
Spore Strip Packages
Choose from either our 1 strip test or 2 strip test, depending on if you have more than 1 autoclave sterilizer. We recommend the 52 pack for those who need weekly sterilization tests and the 12 pack for those who need monthly sterilization tests depending on your state’s sterilization regulations and requirements.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Product Name: Spore Test Strips
Product: Spore strips for testing and making sure Autoclaves are sterilizing properly.
Included in Product: You will receive a box with envelopes and spore strip packs depending on the amount you order. The spore strip packets come in One-Strip for placing alongside your instruments being sterilized, or Two -Strips so you can place one with the instruments and one in the back corner of the machine. Also included is a certificate of participation and instructions as well as information about reordering.
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All of our kits include the correct amount of preservative for the amount and type of the sample. If you are not using our kit, please reference the chart.
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If your results come back and they are indicating bacteriological contamination for fecal coliform, E. coli or coliform bacteria you can follow the information in the PDF below provided by the Washington State Department Of Health to disinfect your well.
Private Well Disinfection Instructions -
Why are there so many ways to get the same analytical result? Simply stated, each Federal program has its own favorite procedures written for a specific federal rule. But fear not, there is some logic to the method numbers. Look at the table bellow to determine which analytical method best fits your needs. The prefix ‘SM’ stands for Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 18th Edition.
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Your water may smell like rotten eggs because the chemical that causes the odor is the same as that in the eggs, namely Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S). Hydrogen Sulfide is a volatile gas. Sulfides are produced in environments where oxygen is low. This low Oxygen condition is often referred to as a reducing environment. Other forms of Sulfides that produce the rotten egg odor are Manganese and Iron. There are certain bacteria that produce sulfides known as sulfur reducing bacteria. To determine if you have Hydrogen Sulfide in your water, just send us a sample.
Sulfides can be treated by one of three ways:1. Remove one of the reducing conditions by killing the sulfur reducing bacteria
2. Oxidizing the sulfur to a form that does not produce the odor such as ozonation or chlorination
3. Stripping the sulfides out of the water by air sparging.
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If you have copper pipes the colored stain is a dissolved form of copper being deposited on lighter colored surfaces. It is usually caused by corrosive waters that have low pH (acidic) and often have a low mineral content. Water is called the ‘universal solvent’ for a good reason. Water that has a low mineral content and is only slightly acidic will dissolve anything it can. If left unchecked the corrosive water will eat through your copper pipes.
One method of treatment is to ‘lime’ the water. This increases the pH and adds calcium minerals that will tend to deposit on the pipes instead of allowing the water to corrode the pipes. To find out if your water is acidic or alkaline, just send us a sample.
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This white residue is typically the result of ‘Hard’ water. The deposits are often made up of calcium and magnesium carbonates, also known as limestone or dolomitic limestone if it contains magnesium. You can test your water for hardness by sending a sample to us.
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This black ‘sand’ or gray and black stain is most likely manganese. We can test your water for manganese and other contaminants.
This type of problem is usually treated by using a water softener or by sand filtration after the manganese has been oxidized.
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Electrical conductivity is also known as conductivity or specific conductance. It is a measure of the ease of the flow of electricity. For those that understand electricity, conductivity is the mathematical inverse of electrical resistance. It is used to help determine the total amount of dissolved salts in water because it is related to the total amount of dissolved ions (electrolytes) in solution. For instance, pure water has a very low conductivity because water is a poor conductor though if you add a teaspoon full of table salt (Sodium Chloride) the conductivity will sky rocket. A value of 700 uS/cm is the maximum contamination level in drinking water. If you’d like to know about electrical conductivity in your water, Edge Analytical can help.
You can reduce the conductivity of water by distilling it or by a process known as reverse osmosis (R.O.).
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Hardness is property of water that tends to precipitate soaps and deposits white residues on various surfaces. There is no known health problem associated with hard water, it is just a nuisance. Levels of approximately 70 mg/L (4 grains per gallon, gpg) are considered hard. You can convert mg/L (parts per million) to gpg by dividing mg/L by 17.1.
You can test your water for hardness by sending a sample to us, and it can be treated by water softening.
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PQL – Practical Quantitation Limit is the lowest concentration at which a chemical or property can be measured or quantified by a specific method.
MDL – Method Detection Limit is defined as that concentration at which you are 99% certain that the value is greater than zero. If the observed result is between the MDL and the PQL values are flagged as estimated values, or ‘J’ values. The ‘J’ flag comes from the word judgment meaning you are reporting the value as a judgment call. MDLs are statistically derived using analyte spiked laboratory reagent water. Proper consideration should be used when using ‘J’ flagged data with relation to real-world samples.
MCL – Maximum Contamination Level is the highest concentration of a contaminant that is considered to be safe.
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EPA has not established a maximum contamination level (MCL) for Sodium in drinking water. They have however, published an advisory level of 20 mg/L for those individuals that may have high blood pressure concerns.
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Safe drinking water act – www.epa.gov/safewater/sda
Public Water Systems – www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo
Bottled Water – www.bottledwater.org
Helpful Links – Resources -
If you need information regarding individual results, please call us so we can help you. 1-800-755-9295
If you have the reference number of your sample, that will allow us to assist you most effectively. If you don’t have this reference number, any information such as client name or sample date will also help!
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Coliforms are a large group of bacteria that are common in the environment and are generally not harmful. Their presence usually results from a problem in the water system and can mean that other contaminants and germs could enter the water. E. coli and fecal coliforms come from human and animal wastes. These bacteria can cause illness.