Glass Capillary Tube Advisory

OSHA's second advisory warns about the risk of injury and infection from accidental breakage of glass capillary tubes which can occur during centrifugation and when sealing them in putty. One physician even contracted HIV as a result of an injury related to breakage of a glass capillary tube, and has since died of AIDS.

If you use glass capillary tubes in your practice, consider switching to one of the following:

• Plastic capillary tubes
• Glass capillary tubes wrapped in puncture-resistant film
• Capillary tubes that are sealed by a method that does not require manually pushing one end into putty to form a plug

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