UNSPSC 41102917: Microtome blades

UNSPSC 41102917 Microtome blades, a Commodity code, appears in state and local procurement activity primarily as a secondary component tagged in histology laboratory service solicitations rather than as a standalone consumables purchase. The recent opportunities block shows no direct procurements for microtome blades themselves; instead, the code is associated with broader histology service contracts where blade supply or replacement may fall within the contractor's scope. State and local buyers employing this code are primarily forensic and pathology operations within law enforcement and medical examiner offices that conduct postmortem tissue analysis. Brevard County Purchasing Services' April 2026 RFQ for histology lab services to the Medical Examiner's Office exemplifies the operational context — the solicitation calls for tissue embedding, cutting, staining, and analysis with specialized stain panels (hematoxylin and eosin, acid-fast bacilli, fungi, Gram stain, Wright-Giemsa, reticulum, and Masson's trichrome), work that requires precision cutting equipment and consumable blades as integral tooling. The issuing bodies in the recent pipeline are state departments and county law enforcement or medical examiner offices rather than municipalities, school districts, or transit authorities.

Activity is concentrated in California and Georgia, with Brevard County, Florida representing emerging regional activity. The State of California issued RFB-IS-26200981 on May 19, 2026, with a June 4, 2026 response date, though the solicitation documents did not disclose whether microtome blades are the primary procurement or a subordinate component; the solicitation includes technical specifications and a CBE certification requirement. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation posted two related eRFQs in late April and mid-May 2026 — solicitation 47100GBI0000203 for Histology Evaluation Services (posted April 29, due May 8) and 47100GBI0000204 for Histology Services (posted May 12, due May 15) — both with compressed three to nine-day response windows. Brevard County's RFQ-7-26-07 (posted April 6, 2026, due April 7, 2026) required responses within one day and mandated Florida state certification, CAP accreditation, proficiency testing participation, and professional certifications (HT(ASCP) or HTL(ASCP)); the contract term is five years with no set-aside designations disclosed. The code shows limited standalone procurement volume and appears to function primarily as a taxonomy tag for larger forensic and pathology laboratory service contracts where blade consumption is implicit rather than separately itemized.