Lab Coat

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What are they and why do we use them? What types are there?

If synthetic biology had a uniform, it would be the lab coat. They are generally made of a coarse, non-adsorbent fabric and have the side benefit of making you look smarter than you really are. A lab coat will allow you to protect yourself and your clothes from any nasty spills that may occur during your work. It will also allow you to exit the lab without fear of piggybacking a GMO into the wild with sleeves damp with live culture.

Types;

  • Disposable, single use - generally used in stricter containment facilities

  • Reusable, cheap fabric - some lab coats are made to last for ~month before they start to fall apart. I’d generally avoid these unless your work calls for regular PPE replacement.

  • Reusable, thick fabric - A good thick lab coat will last you years. Because you can’t launder it, it will eventually need to be destroyed and replaced.

  • Button-up sleeves - Better than loose sleeves, but not ideal as there is still some daggy fabric that can drag over your plates.

  • Velcro/elastic sleeves - Ideal to prevent your lab coat from dragging over plates.

When do you use?

All the time when working in the lab. Some microbiologists believe that it is better to avoid wearing a lab coat with sleeves when working in a laminar flow hood/biological safety cabinet, opting instead to spray down bare skin with ethanol. You may wish to consider this if you are still getting contamination in one of these sterile environments.

How do you use?

Put it on and button/tie/zip/velcro up the front/back/sleeves. Take it off before you leave the lab. Once a lab coat enters a PC1+ facility, it is not allowed to leave except as biological waste. Remember this when working with smelly chemicals, you really don’t want to smell like β-mercaptoethanol until you can afford a lab coat replacement.