HUMID NATURE – ISSUE NO. 319

I'm not going to complain about the humidity. Every year, summer tends to fly by and before I know it winter will soon be here in Michigan. Besides, its been a cool summer up until now with a lot of rain. The combination of rain and humidity has at least performed wonders for my garden. My tomato plants are the largest that I've ever grown. My biggest challenge will be keeping insects and animals away to ensure a successful harvest. Moisture and humidity can play a key role in the decontam department as well. How many times have instruments come to your department to be reprocessed that have dried soil on them? This can become a time-consuming issue, making your task much more difficult than it needs to be. The solution is to find a way to extend the holding time of soiled instruments. Products like the Humipak consists of a layer of highly absorbent material sandwiched between two layers of waterproof film. To use, place individual instruments, or an entire instrument tray inside the Humipak, add the specified amount of water to the absorbent layer, and seal with the peel away adhesive strip. This creates a water tight, moist atmosphere that will prevent organics from drying over an extended period of time. Further, the transparent film allows observation of the contents and a list of contents or instructions can be written directly onto the film. Testing has demonstrated that items will remain moist for up to 3 days, depending upon the type of instruments, and the exact composition of the residue. This summer, make sure you use humidity to your advantage!