The pen is mightier than the scrub: hospitals warn of ink stains

Utrecht University Medical Center is warning its doctors and nurses to check their pockets before putting their scrubs in the wash, as ink stains have become a spot of problem for the laundry.

According to RTL, hundreds of uniforms are thrown away in Dutch hospitals because markets and pens end up in the washing machine.

A spokesperson for laundry company CleanLease, which manages the laundry for the Utrecht hospital, says scrubs and other laundry items are sent through an x-ray before getting wet. “We detect 99 percent of the items. But pens and markers are a persistent problem,” they told RTL.

A single pen can cause an entire load of uniforms to be rejected. For UMC Utrecht, this amounts to 50 uniforms per week.

“In healthcare, we already have a shortage of materials, staff, and costs. That is why we must return to common sense and look at the simplest solution: just check your jacket and trouser pockets and take that pen out,” Celina Kroon, Sustainability Manager at UMC Utrecht, said.