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A laboratory (informally, lab) is a facility that provides controlled
conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be
performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities
where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific
laboratories. These notably include:
* the film laboratory or photographic laboratory
* the computer lab
* the medical lab
* the clandestine lab for the production of illegal drugs
Scientific laboratories can be found in schools and universities, in industry,
in government or military facilities, and even aboard ships and spacecraft. A
laboratory might offer work space for just one to more than thirty researchers
depending on its size and purpose.
Characteristics of scientific laboratories
Labs used for scientific research take many forms because of the differing
requirements of specialists in the various fields of science. A physics lab
might contain a particle accelerator or vacuum chamber, while a metallurgy lab
could have apparatus for casting or refining metals or for testing their
strength. A chemist or biologist might use a wet laboratory, while a
psychologist's or economist's lab might be a room with one-way mirrors and
hidden cameras in which to observe behavior. In some laboratories, computers
(sometimes supercomputers) are used for either simulations or the analysis of
data collected elsewhere. Scientists in other fields will use still other types
of laboratories. Despite the great differences among laboratories, some features
are common. The use of workbenches or countertops at which the scientist may
choose to either sit or stand is a common way to ensure comfortable working
conditions for the researcher, who may spend a large portion of his or her
working day in the laboratory. The provision of cabinets for the storage of
laboratory equipment is quite common. It is traditional for a scientist to
record an experiment's progress in a laboratory notebook, but modern labs almost
always contain at least one computer workstation for data collection and
analysis.
Lab safety
In some laboratories, conditions are no more dangerous than in any other room.
In many labs, though, hazards are present. Laboratory hazards are as varied as
the subjects of study in laboratories, and might include poisons; infectious
agents; flammable, explosive, or radioactive materials; moving machinery;
extreme temperatures; or high voltage. In laboratories where dangerous
conditions might exist, safety precautions are important. Rules exist to
minimize the individual's risk, and safety equipment is used to protect the lab
user from injury or to assist in responding to an emergency.
A film laboratory is a commercial service enterprise and technical facility for
the film industry where specialists develop, print, and conform film material
for classical film production and distribution which is based on film material,
such as negative and positive, black and white and color, on different film
formats: 65-70mm, 35mm, 16mm, 9.5mm, 8 mm.
Although sometimes somewhat mysterious the individual technical services are
most clearly defined. Exposed motion-picture film will be processed according to
exact chemical prescriptions at measured temperature as well as over measured
time. Today the interaction of the photographic baths with the chemicals in the
films´ photographic layers is largely understood down to the atomic scale. It
might appear amazing that the amplification factor of development is in the
region of 100 million times.
After processing there is an original, the camera or picture original, in most
cases a negative. From it a first sample is exposed on a motion-picture film
printer. Again after processing there is a positive ready for inspection by the
production representatives, usually by projection in the dark just like one sees
a movie in a theatre.
The film lab. thus needs various apparatus from developing equipment and
machines, over measuring tools, cutting, editing devices, and printers to
different sorts of viewing machinery including classic projectors. Besides there
are sensitometers, densitometers, analysers, and array of chemical laboratory
items that will help maintaining a level of repeatability of operations.
Auxiliary material is also encountered within a film laboratory, for example
leader film, plain plastic, to keep a developing machine threaded up.
Every single action of the lab costs money. The film laboratory managers can
offer by the footage or by time. This issue is rather complex, because at times
one tends to feel misunderstood when, let us say, the screening of 200 feet of
film causes the same amount in the bill like one of 1000 feet. Yet, for the lab
people both footages demand equal labour (preparation of rooms, machines, and
film)
A computer lab is a room which contains many computers, printers and other
electronic equipment designed for public use. Computer labs can be found in
libraries, schools, government buildings, science labs, and research centers. In
addition, some companies such as Kinkos or Mail Boxes Etc. provide labs with
computers to use for an hourly fee. Computers are used for research and other
reasons. Computers in these labs may have software installed to limit, trace, or
block certain activities. Macintosh computers may have software such as the
older At Ease or the newer MacAdministrator. Windows computers may have
protection software such as Fortres or Deep Freeze, and often contain network
applications, like Novell NetWare for network security and administration. Due
to the high number of computers in a lab, many lab administrators choose to use
remote administration software such as VNC. Computer labs in schools often have
classroom management software installed to manage and control student computer
activity from the teacher’s computer, to monitor or prevent web browsing and to
remotely control student computers.
This is better
The computers are often in a computer network. The computers may also be thin
clients.
A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are done
on biological specimens in order to get information about the health of a
patient.
Departments
The laboratory is often divided into a number of disciplines:
* Microbiology receives swabs, feces, urine, blood, sputum, medical equipment,
as well as possible infected tissue. They culture this to check for any
pathogenic microbes.
* Parasitology investigates parasites.
* Hematology receives whole blood and citrated plasma. They do full blood
counts, and blood films.
* Coagulation analyzes clotting times and coagulation factors.
* Clinical chemistry usually receives serum. They test the serum for different
components.
* Toxicology tests for pharmaceutical drugs, drugs of abuse or recreational use,
and other toxins.
* Immunology tests for antibodies.
* Immunohematology, or Blood bank prepares blood components, derivatives, and
products for transfusion.
* Serology receives serum samples to look for evidence of diseases such as
hepatitis or HIV.
* Urinalysis tests urine for many analytes
* Histology processes solid tissue removed from the body to make slides and
examine cellular detail.
* Cytology examines smears of cells (such as from the cervix) for evidence of
cancer and other conditions.
* Cytogenetics involves using blood and other cells to get a karyotype. This can
be helpful in prenatal diagnosis (e.g. Down's syndrome) as well as in cancer
(some cancers have abnormal chromosomes).
* Virology and DNA analysis are also done in large medical laboratories.
* Surgical pathology examines organs, limbs, tumors, fetuses, and other tissues
biopsied in surgery such as breast masectomys.
Medical laboratory staff
The following is the hierarchy of the clinical laboratory staff from highest
authority to lowest: pathologist, pathologist assistant, laboratory manager,
department supervisor, chief technologist (lead technologist), cytotechnologist,
medical technologist, histotechnologist, medical laboratory technician, medical
laboratory assistant (lab aide), phlebotomist, transcriptionist, and specimen
processor (secretary).
Types of laboratory
In many countries, there are two main types of labs that process the majority of
medical specimens. Hospital laboratories are attached to a hospital, and perform
tests on patients. Private (or community) laboratories receive samples from
general practitioners, insurance companies, and other health clinics for
analysis. These can also be called reference laboratories where more unusual and
obscure tests are performed.
For extremely specialised tests, samples may go to an environmental science or
research laboratory.
A lot of samples are sent between different labs for uncommon tests. It is more
cost effective if a particular laboratory specializes in a rare test, receiving
specimens (and money) from other labs, while sending away tests it cannot do.
Specimen processing and work flow
Sample processing will usually start with a set of samples and a request form.
Typically a set of vacutainer tubes containing blood, or any other specimen will
arrive to the laboratory in a small plastic bag, along with the form.
The form and the specimens are given a laboratory number. The specimens will
usually all receive the same number, often as a sticker that can be placed on
the tubes and form. This label has a barcode that can be wanded by automated
analyzers and test requests uploaded from the LIS. Entry of requests onto a
laboratory management system involves typing, or scanning (where barcodes are
used) in the laboratory number, and entering the patient identification, as well
as any tests requested. This allows laboratory machines, computers and staff to
know what tests are pending, and also gives a place (such as a hospital
department, doctor or other customer) for results to go.
For biochemistry samples, blood is usually centrifuged and serum is separated.
If the serum needs to go on more than one machine, it can be divided into
separate tubes.
Many specimens end up in one or more sophisticated automated analyser, that
process a fraction of the sample and return one or more "results".
The work flow in a lab usually is heavy from midnite to 7:00 am. Nurses and
doctors generally have their patients tested at least once a day with general
complete blood counts and chemistry profiles. These orders are then drawn during
a morning run by phlebtomists. This way the med techs can test the specimens and
have the results in the patient's charts for the doctors to consult during their
morning rounds. Another busy time for the lab is after 3:00 pm when private
practice physician offices are closing. Couriers will pick up specimens that
have been drawn throughout the day and deliver them to the lab. Also, couriers
will stop at outpatient drawing centers and pick up specimens.
Laboratory informatics
Laboratories today are held together by a system of software programs and
computers that exchange data about patients, test requests, and test results
known as a Laboratory information system or LIS. The LIS is interfaced with the
hospital information system.
This system enables hospitals and labs to order the correct test requests for
each patient, keep track of individual patient or specimen histories, and help
guarantee a better quality of results as well as printing hard copies of the
results for patient charts and doctors to check.
Result analysis
The pathology results must be verified and sometimes explained to a physician by
a clinical pathologist. The majority of the time it's a medical technologist
explaining it to a registered nurse.
Scandal in the clinical lab industry - SmithKline Beecham
As medical technology advanced doctors were able to get more and more tests done
in shorter and shorter amounts of time. Where in the past a doctor might order a
potassium and glucose and it would take hours for the results, now a doctor can
order a full chemistry panel of 20 or more different analytes and get the
results in under an hour. The results are also much more accurate and reliable
now than in the past. Thus, into the 1970s and 1980s the lab became a source of
profit within the hospital structure. Many lab corporations began taking illegal
and nefarious actions to increase their income. These practices included
medicare and medicaid fraud by performing and billing for tests that the
ordering physician never ordered, paying kickbacks to private doctor offices for
sending their specimens to these reference labs, and other complicated criminal
activity. These kickbacks included donuts, free computers, fax machines, and
more. These events culminated mostly in the 1980s with the SmithKline Beecham
(now GlaxoSmithKline) Clinical Laboratory (SBCL) scandal.[1] It is believed SBCL
paid at least $325 million in penalties and the industry as a whole paid over $1
billion to insurance and government agencies that were defrauded. Ever since
this time, the lab has become a source of expense and loss in the hospital
budget and lab medicine's reputation was given a black eye. Now many labs have a
compliance officer with mandatory annual meetings about compliance for all
employees.
Medical laboratory accreditation
Credibility of medical laboratories is paramount to the health and safety of the
patients relying on the testing services provided by these labs. The
international standard in use today for the accreditation of medical
laboratories is ISO 15189 - Medical laboratories - particular requirements for
quality and competence.
Accreditation is done by the Joint Commission, AABB, and other state and federal
agencies. CLIA 88 or the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments also dictate
testing and personnel
Clandestine chemistry generally refers to chemistry carried out in illegal drug
laboratories, but can include any kind of laboratory operation carried on in
secret. It is important to distinguish between large and small scale clandestine
labs. Larger labs are usually run by gangs or organized crime with the intention
of production for distribution on the black market. Small labs are usually run
by individual chemists working clandestinely in order to synthesize small
amounts of controlled substances for their own use in order to guarantee purity
and quality . This is often because it is difficult to ascertain the purity or
authenticity of illegally synthesized drugs that can be obtained on the black
market. Note that the term "clandestine lab" is generally used in any situation
involving the production of illict chemicals, even when the facilities being
used can hardly qualify as a laboratory.
History
Ancient forms of clandestine chemistry included the manufacturing of poisons.
Another old form of clandestine chemistry is the illegal brewing and
distillation of alcohol. This was frequently done to avoid taxation on spirits.
In the United States in the 1920s, alcohol was on prohibition. This opened a
door for brewers to supply their own town with alcohol. Just like modern day
drug labs, distilleries were placed in rural areas. The term moonshine generally
referred to "corn whiskey", that is, a whiskey-like liquor made from corn.
American made corn whiskey is now referred to as Bourbon.
Precursor chemicals
Prepared substances (as opposed to those that occur naturally in a consumable
form, such as cannabis and hallucinogenic mushrooms) require reagents.
Semi-synthetic drugs like cocaine and heroin are made starting from plant
sources and are usually easy to make, with only a few steps required to reach
the final product. Other drugs (such as methamphetamine and MDMA) are normally
made from commercially available chemicals. (MDMA can also be made from safrole,
found in small amounts in a wide variety of plants.) Governments have adopted a
strategy of chemical control as part of their overall drug control and
enforcement plans. Chemical control offers a means of attacking illicit drug
production and disrupting the process before the drugs have entered the market.
Because many legitimate industrial chemicals are also necessary in the
processing and synthesis of most illicitly produced drugs, preventing the
diversion of these chemicals from legitimate commerce to illicit drug
manufacturing is a difficult job. Governments often place restrictions on the
purchase of large quantities of chemicals that can be used in the production of
illict drugs, usually requiring licences or permits to ensure that the purchaser
has a legitimate need for them. Furthermore, since so many chemicals listed as
illicit drug precursors are manufactured all over the world, international
cooperation combined with a comprehensive chemical control strategy is essential
for chemical control policies to succeed.
Leading suppliers of precursor chemicals
Chemicals critical to the production of cocaine, heroin, and synthetic drugs are
produced in many countries throughout the world. Many manufacturers and
suppliers exist in Europe, China, India, the United States, and a host of other
countries.
Historically, chemicals critical to the synthesis or manufacture of illicit
drugs are introduced into various venues via legitimate purchases by companies
that are registered and licensed to do business as chemical importers or
handlers. Once in a country or state, the chemicals are diverted by rogue
importers or chemical companies, by criminal organizations and individual
violators, or, more typically seen in an overseas environment, acquired as a
result of coercion on the part of drug traffickers. In response to stricter
international controls, drug traffickers have increasingly been forced to divert
chemicals by mislabeling the containers, forging documents, establishing front
companies, using circuitous routing, hijacking shipments, bribing officials, or
smuggling products across international borders.
Enforcement of controls on precursor chemicals
Operation Purple is a U.S. DEA driven international chemical control initiative
designed to reduce the illicit manufacture of cocaine in the Andean Region by
monitoring and tracking shipments of potassium permanganate (PP), the chemical
oxidizer of choice for cocaine production. The cornerstone of the operation is
an intensive PP tracking program aimed at identifying and intercepting diverted
potassium permanganate; identifying rogue firms and suspect individuals;
gathering intelligence on diversion methods, trafficking trends, and shipping
routes; and taking administrative, civil, and/or criminal action as appropriate.
Critical to the success of this operation is the communication network that
gives notification of shipments and provides the government of the importer
sufficient time to verify the legitimacy of the transaction and take appropriate
action. The effects of this initiative have been dramatic and far-reaching.
Operation Purple has exposed a significant vulnerability among traffickers, and
has grown to include almost thirty nations. According to the DEA, Operation
Purple has been highly effective at interfering with cocaine production.
Acetic anhydride (AA), the most commonly used chemical agent in heroin
processing, is virtually irreplaceable. According to the DEA, Mexico remains the
only heroin source country that has indigenous acetic anhydride production
capability, producing 87,000 metric tons in 1999 alone. All other heroin
producing countries must import large amounts of acetic anhydride. The diversion
of this chemical to Colombian heroin laboratories is a continuing problem. The
DEA reports that in 1999 three major hijackings of tanker trucks containing
acetic anhydride occurred in Colombia. A total of 95.9 metric tons of AA was
stolen, an amount sufficient to supply the Colombian heroin trade for the next
five years. However, the largest markets for diverted acetic anhydride continue
to be heroin laboratories in Afghanistan and Burma. Of particular note was a
March 2000 seizure of 72.8 metric tons of AA in Turkmenistan, en route to heroin
laboratories in Afghanistan. Authorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,
Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan routinely seize ton quantity shipments of diverted
acetic anhydride.
DEA's Operation Topaz is a coordinated international strategy targeting acetic
anhydride. In place since March 2001, a total of thirty-one countries are
currently organized participants in the program in addition to regional
participants. The DEA reports that as of June 2001, some 125 consignments of
acetic anhydride had been tracked totaling 61,890,222.85 kilograms. As of July
2001, there has been approximately 20 shipments of AA totaling 185,000 kilograms
either stopped or seized.
The methamphetamine situation changed in the mid-1990s with the entrance of
Mexican organized crime into production and distribution. According to the DEA,
the seizure of 3.5 metric tons of pseudoephedrine (the primary precursor
chemical used in the production of methamphetamine) in Texas revealed that
Mexican trafficking groups were producing methamphetamine on an unprecedented
scale.
In countries where strict chemical controls have been put in place, illicit drug
production has been seriously affected. For example, few of the chemicals needed
to process coca leaf into cocaine are manufactured in Bolivia or Peru. Most are
smuggled in from neighboring countries with advanced chemical industries or
diverted from a smaller number of licit handlers. Increased interdiction of
chemicals in Peru and Bolivia has contributed to final product cocaine from
those countries being of lower, minimally oxidized quality.
As a result, Bolivian lab operators are now using inferior substitutes such as
cement instead of lime and sodium bicarbonate instead of ammonia, recycled
solvents like ether, and are attempting to streamline a production process that
virtually eliminates oxidation to produce cocaine base. Some laboratories are
not using sulfuric acid during the maceration state; consequently, less cocaine
alkaloid is extracted from the leaf, producing less cocaine hydrochloride, the
powdered cocaine marketed in the United States. Similarly, heroin-producing
countries depend on supplies of acetic anhydride from the international market.
This heroin precursor continues to account for the largest volume of
internationally seized chemicals, according to the International Narcotics
Control Board. Since July 1999, there have been several notable seizures of
acetic anhydride in Turkey (amounting to nearly seventeen metric tons) and
Turkmenistan (totaling seventy-three metric tons).
The Multilateral Chemical Reporting Initiative encourages governments to
exchange information on a voluntary basis in order to monitor international
chemical shipments. Over the past decade, key international bodies like the
Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the U.N. General Assembly's Special Session
(UNGASS) have addressed the issue of chemical diversion in conjunction with U.S.
efforts. These organizations raised specific concerns about potassium
permanganate and acetic anhydride.
To facilitate the international flow of information about precursor chemicals,
the United States, through its relationship with the Inter-American Drug Control
Abuse Commission (CICAD), continues to evaluate the use of precursor chemicals
and assist countries in strengthening controls. Many nations still lack the
capacity to determine whether the import or export of precursor chemicals is
related to legitimate needs or illicit drugs. The problem is complicated by the
fact that many chemical shipments are either brokered or transshipped through
third countries in an attempt to disguise their purpose or destination.
The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has opted to organize an
international conference with the goal of devising a specific action plan to
counter the traffic in MDMA precursor chemicals. In July 2001, the INCB
requested the assistance of DEA in planning an international conference on
preventing the diversion of chemicals used in the production of amphetamine-type
stimulants (ATS), including MDMA (ecstasy) and methamphetamine.
Despite this long history of law enforcement actions, restrictions of chemicals,
and even covert military actions, it must be noted that many illicit drugs are
still widely available all over the world.
Amphetamines
Clandestine chemistry made its mark in the late 1960s when amphetamines became
controlled substances in many countries. Biker gangs including the Hells Angels
took control over the manufacture of amphetamines using standard laboratory
equipment.
Methamphetamine was a favorite among biker gangs, hence the slang term 'crank,'
as bikers used to smuggle the drug in the crank cases of their motorcycles. But
after phenylacetone became a Schedule II controlled immediate precursor in 1979,
it was harder for underground chemists to manufacture methamphetamine.
Frustrated, underground chemists searched for alternative methods for producing
methamphetamine. The two predominant methods which appeared both involve the
reduction of ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine. At the time,
neither was a watched chemical, and pills containing the substance could be
bought by the thousands without raising any kind of suspicion.
In the 1990s, ephedrine / pseudoephedrine became a closely watched precursor by
the DEA, making it somewhat more difficult for underground chemists to produce
methamphetamine. Many individual States have enacted precursor control laws
which limit the sale of over-the-counter cold medications which contain
ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.
DEA El Paso Intelligence Center EPICdata is showing a distinct downward trend in
the seizure of clandestine drug labs for the illicit manufacture of
methampetamine from a high of 17,356 in 2003. Lab seizure data for the United
States is available from EPIC beginning in 1999 when 7,438 labs were reported to
have been seized during that calendar year.
Methamphetamine Lab Seizures in the US Year Seizures
1999 7,438
2000 9,902
2001 13,357
2002 16,212
2003 17,356
2004 17,710
2005 12,139
1. 26 September 2007
Explosives
Clandestine chemistry does not limit itself only to drugs, it is also associated
with explosives, and other illegal chemicals. Of the explosives manufactured
illegally nitroglycerin and acetone peroxide are easiest to produce due to the
ease with which the precursors can be acquired. That said, it is illegal to
procure these items in an era of globalised terrorism.
Uncle Fester is a writer who commonly writes about different aspects of
clandestine chemistry. Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture is among one of
his most popular books, and is considered required reading for DEA Agents. More
of his books deal with other aspects of clandestine chemistry, including
explosives, and poisons. Fester is, however, considered by many to be a faulty
and unreliable source for information in regard to the clandestine manufacture
of chemicals. To his credit, he pioneered the use of potassium hydroxide (KOH)
in the field of polymer chemistry.
Presently
Alexander Shulgin and his research chemical projects have expanded the knowledge
of the inner working of the brain. He publishes much of his research for the
scientific community. The books are written toward advanced chemists and are
sometimes found in clandestine labs. His research into chemical analogs is
unprecedented.
With the rise of the Internet, access to information on topics such as the
extraction of dextromethorphan (DXM) from over the counter cough medicine or the
manufacture of simple explosives has become far easier than in the past. This
has been cause for concern among some, due to minors attempting these
procedures.
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