Biosafety of sorting revisited

I know this topic has been discussed many times before and once again it is
under discussion at my institution. The current discussion surrounds the
topic of sorting primary human tissue and the following:
1) What is the Institutional Biosafety Committee's responsibility with
regard to sorting protocols that involve the sorting of unfixed primary
human tissue? 
2) Should sorting protocols be reviewed separately from other protocols
involving  these types of samples?
3) Should there be separate Biosafety Guidelines specific for the sorting of
these tissues or are Universal Precautions and general BSL2 guidelines
adequate?
4) Should these samples be tested for common human pathogens prior to
sorting? If yes, which pathogens should be tested for and by which method?
Who pays for the testing? Is serology on the patient from which the tissue
came adequate? if so what is an acceptable timeframe between when the
patient was tested and the sample to be sorted was removed? How are the
patient confidentiality issues, patient consent, or specimens from deceased
patients handled?
5) If no testing is performed are Universal Precautions for Blood Borne
Pathogens adequate for sorting these tissues and can they be sorted in a
BSL2 facility?
6) What are the minimal requirements for personnel protective equipment and
engineering devices for sorting live primary human tissue?

The big controversy here seems to be "to test or not to test". One school of
thought is that if you test and the results are negative that this may give
a false sense of security especially since a negative result does not
necessarily mean the specimen is uninfected. The other school of thought is
to test the samples and exclude those that test positive and treat the
negatives with Universal Precautions. Generally speaking, known infected
samples for HIV would be required to be sorted in a BSL3 facility, so is it
reasonable to sort untested samples in a BSL2 facility if one is to assume
the sample is infected? I know there is going to be a workshop at ISAC which
deals with Biosafety issues and I look forward to participating in that
workshop but I was wondering if I could get a poll of what other
institutions are doing with regard the questions listed. The feeling here is
that we should follow what the "standard of care" is at other institutions
until more specific guidelines are available.
I really appreciate the input and expertise of this group and will of course
put together a summary of responses.
Thanks a bunch!

Joanne Lannigan, MS
Director, Flow Cytometry Core Facility
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 800734
Charlottesville, VA 22908-0734
Office: 434-924-0274
Lab: 434-243-2695
Fax: 434-982-1071
email: joannelannigan@virginia.edu