Share thisMany bedding disposal and dispensing products offer distinct advantages to save animal facilities both time and money.
If your laboratory is still dumping out soiled bedding into a garbage can and replacing it by scooping from a bag, it may be time to think about improving your methods. Consider the benefits to your laboratory’s workflow, ergonomics, and cleanliness by upgrading your systems for bedding disposal and dispensing.
Bedding disposal and dispensing technologies can dramatically improve the performance of a laboratory of any size. Disposal systems that quickly and efficiently remove waste bedding require less manual labor, thereby saving the facility money. Employees will also be spared much heavy lifting and exposure to airborne allergens, reducing the number of injuries and workman’s compensation claims. Such systems are also quicker and more efficient than manual processing, decreasing the turnaround time from a dirty cage to a clean one, and allowing hundreds (or even thousands) of cages to be processed in a matter of hours. Dispensing systems offer these same advantages, combined with a vast increase in accuracy for amounts of bedding per cage, leading to more precise test results.
The combined effect is that a modern-day dispensing and/or disposal system quickly pays for itself in decreased costs, increased productivity, and increased accuracy.
Out With the Old
Simply tossing soiled bedding into a plastic bin leaves technicians vulnerable to innumerable airborne particles and allergens from animal waste, food particles, dander, and the bedding itself. This is avoidable with the addition of a specialized dump station. One example is the Mobile HEPA Filtered Dirty Bedding Dump Station (MOHEP) produced by Park Bioservices, LLC. MOHEP resembles an ordinary trash can—easing the transition from ordinary dumping—but is equipped with a 160 CFM blower that draws air away from the technician and through the collar of the bin, then through a pre-filter and a HEPA filter, before releasing it.
“We’ve recently updated our [MOHEP] unit to have a Magnehelic gauge so the client can judge the filter life,” says Park Bioservices’ Frank Razzaboni. “[It’s] small, portable, lightweight, easy to roll around, [and] virtually maintenance-free.”
The bedding disposal station model ANDPS363071, offered by Ancare, is also easy to use and maintain, with a small footprint and an additional charcoal filter to clean odors and gaseous contaminants like ammonia. It is adjustable and highly customizable, says Gordon Yee, Marketing Director for Ancare. “The ANDPS363071 is suited for a small facility with a limited budget thanks to its small footprint and reasonable price,” Yee says. “At 36.26" wide x 30" deep, it will occupy less than eight square feet in the dirty cage wash room.”