To the Editor: The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) is concerned with some of the conclusions drawn in the article by McAlister and colleagues.1 We support the suggestion that there are opportunities for reducing waste and carbon dioxide emissions in pathology laboratories and, with the RCPA Quality Assurance Programs, we encourage laboratories to reduce their environmental impact whenever possible. There are laboratories already active in this space.2,3 Furthermore, we unequivocally support and encourage clinicians to exercise due consideration in choosing appropriate pathology tests. However, the reduction of pathology testing purely to reduce carbon footprint brings significant public health and economic consequences to the community.
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- 1. McAlister S, Barratt AL, Bell KJ, McGain F. The carbon footprint of pathology testing. Med J Aust 2020; 212: 377–382. https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2020/212/8/carbon-footprint-pathology-testing
- 2. Reid E, Kehrer S, Badrick T. Outcomes and challenges of implementing an ISO14001:2004 environmental management system in a clinical laboratory. Aust J Med Sci 2012; 33: 88–95.
- 3. Lopez JB, Jackson D, Gammie A, Badrick T. 2017. Reducing the environmental impact of clinical laboratories. Clin Biochem Rev 2017; 38: 3–11.
- 4. Australian Bureau of Statistics. National, state and territory population, March 2020. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/national-state-and-territory-population/latest-release (viewed Oct 2020).
- 5. Pathology Awareness Australia. Australians urged not to delay health tests due to COVID‐19 restrictions [media release]. 15 Apr 2020. https://www.rcpa.edu.au/getattachment/dac52407-a17d-4a1c-b31f-129fbfe50c85/Australians-urged-not-to-delay-health-tests-due-to.aspx (viewed May 2020).
Michael Dray is a consultant histopathologist at Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, New Zealand, and is President of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. Daman Langguth is a partner in Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, Brisbane, Australia.