NIH DryIce Services

Dry ice is a critical item to the majority of the NIH research community.  The community depends on the NIHSC GDC to meet their respective dry ice requirements by having ice delivered to their locations the day after their requisition is submitted.  Dry ice has applicability in virtually every building in which NIH employees work.  Approximately 45,000 boxes of crushed pellets and 1,500 boxes of block slabs were ordered and delivered during fiscal years 2019 and 2020.

Dry ice is utilized internally at NIH for a myriad of applications.  Those applications include the preservation and storage of tissue cell cultures, transporting various samples, cold temperature stabilization, research preservation purposes, as well as back-up in the event of a power outage affecting refrigerated and/or frozen items.  Failure to provide the community with reliable and/or dependable dry ice support could prove devastating and could also result in the loss of years of accumulated research, or a substantial monetary loss.  These tissue cell cultures are at risk of being destroyed if not adequately stored on dry ice.  Even a 24-hour delay in the delivery of dry ice could result in the loss of research, the value of which would be immeasurable.