Following our last three AAALAC International site visits – in 2017, 2020, and 2023 – the UCLA animal care and use program received suggestions for improvement regarding monitoring the effectiveness of sanitation for hand-washed equipment[1].
As we prepare for our Fall 2026 AAALAC site visit, the ARC, in partnership with DLAM, is launching a program on cleaning and disinfection of hand-washed laboratory equipment. A detailed description of the program, with additional resources, is attached.
This program will impact your lab if you use equipment that comes into contact with animals and is washed by hand. In brief, impacted labs will:
1. Identify items in the lab that come into contact with animals and which are washed by hand and re-used.
2. Review and if necessary update lab procedures for cleaning/disinfecting those items.
3. Contact DLAM for initial testing to verify cleaning if using procedures not described in the program document.
Labs performing hand-washing will be subject to random requests to submit ATP swabs of hand-washed equipment to DLAM for assessment of cleaning / disinfection.
The ARC is keenly aware of the regulatory and administrative burden faced by the research community. The design of this program is intended to minimize addition to that burden.
Contact DLAM Associate Director Joanne Zahorsky-Reeves and the DLAM Training Team if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Nigel T. Maidment, PhD
ARC Chair
Jeffrey Goodwin, DVM, PhD, DACLAM
Attending Veterinarian and DLAM Executive Director
[1] Site visitors in 2017 noted that various types of animal equipment – such as restrainers, behavioral chambers, and induction equipment – all require sanitation by hand, and recommended that the Program review hand-sanitation practices, and enhance those practices if warranted. Following this visit, DLAM purchased a hand-held Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) detector to evaluate the potential utility of this device for determining the effectiveness of hand-wash sanitation. DLAM subsequently launched a study to spot-check all hand-washed equipment in study and research areas using the ATP detector and later partnered with an outside company, Quip, for an expanded study.
This recommendation was repeated in 2020. That site visit team again emphasized the importance of monitoring the effectiveness of sanitation, noting that UCLA has an effective program in place for cage washes. In other areas, UCLA was encouraged to evaluate the effectiveness of sanitation for items washed by hand. The 2023 site visit team again commented on manual sanitation of equipment without procedures to assess adequacy of sanitation.
Attachment:
Cleaning Hand-Washed Equip – Final 5.18.2026