Concentrating on Our Planet

The Challenge

As a producer of laboratory solutions, market leader, and pioneer in hematology, Beckman Coulter is continuously innovating new ways to implement cleaner and greener manufacturing. This month, we’re excited to share our Investment In Our Planet, acting on our “commitment to considering the long-term interests of our associates, customers, communities and our planet in everything we do.”¹ We are celebrating Earth Day with the global launch of our hematology DxH Concentrated ECO Diluent.

Clinical laboratories are crucial to patient healthcare, where up to 70% of medical decision are based upon laboratory results.² Laboratory results provide pivotal information clinicians need to diagnose, manage, and treat a variety of diseases. But laboratories may also be rife with waste. Of course, biohazardous wastes are a given in an area filled with human fluids and tissues, but reduction—the first of the R’s in the recycling mantra, reduce, reuse, recycle—in plastics and chemical waste and the overall carbon footprint can help to mitigate the negative environmental impact of this vital work.³

Laboratory Waste

A large central laboratory can run more than 500 complete blood counts (CBCs) every day. A lab of this size consumes around 1,300 10 L containers of standard diluent yearly (~3.5 10 L boxes per day). That’s 1,300 boxes that needed to be shipped, stored in controlled storage, and carried from the storeroom. It’s also 1,300 times the reloading time and 1,300 boxes worth of waste and recycling that need to be managed.

Cutting the Carbon Footprint

On average, the global healthcare sector emits 4.4% of greenhouse gases, with 70-80% of those emissions coming from the supply chain due to fossil fuel consumption.^4,5 Shipping concentrated reagents can significantly cut emissions—minimizing bulk transport carbon footprint is a logical way to lower the environmental impact.⁶ And as an added bonus, shipping fewer containers means lower shipping costs!^†

Reducing Plastics

Clinical and scientific laboratories rely heavily on single-use plastics.¹² A 2015 study investigating global laboratory plastics waste determined that in one year, scientific (clinical and research) laboratories generated approximately 5.5 million metric tons of plastic waste.^13,14 The synthetic composition of plastic waste makes it resistant to environmental breakdown.¹⁵ The best way to reduce plastic output is to reduce plastic intake. ECO Diluent, is 18X concentrated. Including the cap, each cubitainer contains only 118 g of plastic, which translates to ~2 kg* less plastic for every ECO Diluent container used—a >95% reduction in plastic production and use. Using less plastic reduces the need for fossil fuels, limits emissions of dangerous gasses from burning, and helps to prevent microplastics from ending up in the environment.

A More ECO-Friendly Solution

Hematology diluents, solutions to dilute the blood samples prior to counting and sizing blood cells, can be comprised of a variety of chemicals. A standard part of the CBC, the hemoglobin count, requires lysing of cells, and historically, the reagent component responsible for this lysis was cyanides.⁷ Paying for disposal can be costly.⁸ Thus cyanide-free reagents like those in the DxH Concentrated ECO Diluent are preferable. Reagents used in clinical laboratories need to be free from contaminants, and formaldehyde is a commonly used preservative. While formaldehyde is in everything from building materials to hair products,⁹ exposure to high levels has been linked to health issues. Because water has been removed making the reagents inhospitable for microbial growth, concentrated liquids require fewer preservatives.^10,11

Today, that same 500 per day CBC lab only needs to reload a new box every 5 days—a single box that needs to be stored, carried, reloaded, and disposed, representing a reduction in the tasks of reloading and storage of consumables of 94%. And with no cyanide, low formaldehyde, and >95% reduction in plastic waste, the avoided cost of disposal and benefits to the environment make sense for both economics and health.

At Beckman Coulter—and our parent company, Danaher—we strive to positively impact the world around us. “For us, sustainability means a commitment to considering the long-term interests of our associates, customers, shareholders, business partners, communities and our planet in everything we do. We are committed to helping generations of stakeholders realize life’s potential.”¹ We are dedicated to protecting our natural resources through new laboratory innovation, recognizing that we all need to play a part in protecting our natural resources to leave the planet cleaner for the next generation. Read more about Danaher’s commitment to sustainability here: https://www.danaher.com/sustainability

DxH Concentrated ECO Diluent is available for use on the DxH 900 family of Hematology Analyzers.