Temperature Ranges
Ambient / Room Temperature: +18 to +24 degrees C (64.4 to 75.2 degrees F)
Refrigerated: +2 to +8 degrees C (35.6 to 46.4 degrees F)
Frozen: -20° C or Colder (-4° F or Colder)
Frozen Ultra Cold: -70° C or Colder (-94° F or Colder), can use dry ice to freeze at this temperature.
Iced Specimens: The proper handling of iced specimens is as follows
1. Use refrigerated centrifuge whenever possible. The recommendations for specimen handling remains
the same no matter what centrifuge is used.
2. Pre-Chill tubes when possible.
3. Put tube in ice immediately after drawing specimen.
4. Centrifuge as soon as possible after drawing. Spin for the recommended times.
5. Separate plasma from cells immediately after centrifuging.
6. Place on ice or freeze immediately at -20° C.
7. Transport to lab as soon as possible. If specimen will be in transit for > 15 minutes sending the specimen frozen may be better.
Please note for all frozen specimens:
1. Do not use frost free refrigerator freezer units that undergo repeated freeze/thaw cycles
2. Do not use glass or serum separator tubes (serum or plasma) to freeze specimens.
3. The couriers carry dry ice. Please inform the courier of a frozen specimen.