Bloodborne Pathogens (BBP)

• Health Care Workers
• Public Safety Department Peace Officers
• Athletic Department, Physical Education, and Recreation Services personnel determined by departmental management to be required to provide first aid, remove bandages, or have potential exposure to human blood in any way.
• Laboratory employees working with human blood, blood components, or other potentially infectious human body fluids, tissues, or cells as determined by department management.
• Any employee designated to work with or around situations that may involve potential human blood or body fluid exposures that the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen Standard covers. The exposure potential will be determined by management and be a condition of the job. Preferably, this should be spelled out in writing.

Who pays for the Hepatitis B vaccinations?

Occupational Medicine will bill your department. For research departments, the principal investigator is billed.

Can I give blood after having a Hepatitis B vaccination?

Yes. The vaccine is recombinant, so a blood test can distinguish between someone who has had the vaccination and someone who has had the disease.

Is there a risk of being exposed to bloodborne pathogens in the urine or feces of animals? 

Not at Iowa State University. The only animals covered under the bloodborne pathogens regulation are those that have been experimentally infected with the Human Immunodeficiency or Hepatitis B viruses. There are no such animals at Iowa State.

In some animal teaching areas there are paper towels with blood and sometimes blood in the trash. Should custodians be tagging these as biohazards? 

There is no need to tag them. Animal blood absorbed on paper towels may be put into a dumpster unit. If approved by a veterinarian or principal investigator, liquid animal blood may be rinsed down the drain. Liquids of any kind are prohibited from the dumpster units.

Is there a problem if large amounts of blood are rinsed down the drain with water? 

No, as long as it has been decontaminated. Waste human blood must be decontaminated before disposal. If using a liquid disinfectant, the blood and waste disinfectant solution can be released with water into a drain connected to a sanitary sewer. Animal blood may be rinsed down the drain with water if the animal is not known to have a serious communicable disease.

Are bloodborne pathogens only risky when wet, or is dried blood also harmful?

There is no evidence of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) being transmitted from dried blood since the virus dies within several seconds after being exposed to the air. There is evidence that the Hepatitis B virus might be transmitted for a few days from dried blood if there is direct contact of blood flakes with an open wound or the moist membranes of the eyes, nose, or mouth.

What should be done if someone gets blood on their clothes or a towel? 

Put it in a separate biohazard bag. Wash your hands and any contaminated skin with soap and water immediately after exposure and notify your supervisor. Soaking the garment or towel in a 10% bleach solution will decontaminate any bloodborne pathogens present. Laundering with hot water (at least 140° F) and detergent will also decontaminate bloodborne pathogens.

The lists of ingredients for End-Bac II and DMQ disinfectants are almost identical. What is the difference and how do I choose which one to use for cleaning up human blood? 

OSHA requires that the disinfectant used to decontaminate human blood is tuberculocidal (able to kill the organism that causes tuberculosis). Both End-Bac II and DMQ have ammonium chlorides as their principal active ingredient, but End-Bac II has more (14.4 percent) than DMQ (4.5 percent). End-Bac II is labeled as being tuberculocidal, and DMQ is not. Therefore, End-Bac II is the correct choice for decontaminating human blood. One part household bleach diluted in ten parts water is also an appropriate choice.

If using a mop to clean up fresh human blood, can the mop heads be disinfected with bleach water, or must something different be done with them? Is this procedure different if a phenolic base cleaner is used?

Disinfect the mop heads in a fresh mixture of the same disinfectant solution that was used to disinfect the blood. Non-disposable boots and utility gloves must also be decontaminated with fresh disinfectant. The same procedure is followed if phenolic disinfectants are used.

If employees clean up fresh human blood with a mop and bleach water, can they pour the blood and disinfectant solution down the drain? 

Yes. If mopping up blood that has been disinfected with an approved disinfectant, the blood and disinfectant solution can be poured down a drain that is connected to a sanitary sewer (using lots of water). Use fresh disinfectant to decontaminate the mop and bucket.

Is there a problem if large amounts of blood are rinsed down the drain with water?

No, as long as it has been decontaminated. Waste human blood must be decontaminated before being disposed of. If using a liquid disinfectant, the blood and waste disinfectant solution can be released with water into a drain connected to a sanitary sewer. Animal blood may be rinsed down the drain with water if the animal is not known to have a serious communicable disease. A veterinarian should make this decision.

What do we do with the waste from blood cleanup? 

If the department where the accident happened has an autoclave, discuss arrangements with the lab supervisor in the area for decontamination and disposal of the waste. Where autoclaving is unavailable, contact EH&S for biohazardous waste pickup (294-5359).

If human wet or dried blood is to be treated as possibly infectious, how can used sanitary products not be treated as possibly infectious? I'm sure sanitary products are not treated or made of material that would kill a germ. What's the difference?

The major difference is in the likelihood of actual contact of blood material with an employee's skin or the moist membranes of the eyes, nose, or mouth (that is, with mucous membranes). Under normal circumstances, sanitary products are only handled directly by the persons using them and then are put into a lined waste container.

The OSHA interpretation is that sanitary products are designed to absorb and hold fluids, and for blood absorbed into a pad (or bandage) to be considered a hazard, the pad would have to release flowable blood when compressed or, if dried, be caked on thick enough to fall off when handled.

Dried blood being cleaned up from surfaces, on the other hand, is cleaned up using a liquid, and therefore, the blood becomes subject to splashing and hand contact.

Will training employees on simple first aid be enough of a policy for first aid procedures?

When persons cannot treat themselves, an emergency "first responder" should be called. "First responders" are persons trained and designated by management to provide emergency first response services as a required part of their job. For campus areas without designated first responder employees, these services are provided by the Department of Public Safety, the Ames Police and Fire Departments, and the Mary Greeley Medical Center Ambulance Service. All of these services can be contacted by calling 911.

Does human blood and other potentially infectious material (PIM) need to be labeled?

Yes, labels with the universal biohazard symbol, the word "biohazard," and a predominantly fluorescent orange or orange-red background must be placed on all waste containers, refrigerators, and freezers containing human blood or other PIMs and all other containers used to store, transport or ship human blood or other PIMs. Visit our Signage, Labels, and Postings page for more information.