95 kPa Specimen Bags 6×9–12×15 in — UN3373 / IATA P650, Two-Pocket + Document Pouch

The standard specimen bag — the size most Canadian clinics actually use

6 × 9 inches (152 × 229 mm) is the workhorse size for routine specimen transport. Blood tubes, urine containers, swabs, histology pots — a standard specimen bag takes them without waste and without forcing you into an oversized bag for a small sample.

If you are setting up specimen transport for a clinic, a collection room, a nursing station or a pharmacy, this is almost always the size to start with.

Whichever specimen collection workflow you run — venous blood, urine, swabs, tissue or cytology — the sample leaves the room in one of these bags, with the request form kept in the separate document pouch.

Do 95 kPa specimen bags meet UN3373 for courier shipping in Canada?

UN3373 is a transport classification for Category B biological substances, and the packaging rules behind it are P650 on the road and IATA 650 in the air. Clinics that never fly a sample often compare this bag with the 6 × 9 inch ground-transport specimen bag; the difference is the pressure rating, because a flight brings the 95 kPa test into scope. The two pockets do two jobs: the front pocket holds the specimen container, and the back pocket holds the requisition so the paperwork never sits against the sample. Absorbent material, where P650 (7)(d) requires it, goes into the front pocket alongside the container. The 95 kPa figure is the internal pressure test in P650 (7)(e), held without leakage. No design-type approval is issued, and packing duty rests with the shipper.

What does one specimen bag cost, and how is a box packed?

The box is the priced unit, so the arithmetic stays short. One box carries 100 bags, and the case takes ten of those boxes — 1,000 bags. The amount for each format sits in the variant selector at the top of this page, and the per-bag figure follows from it: divide the box amount by 100, the case amount by 1,000. A laboratory that ships every working day buys the case; a collection room sending a handful of samples a week starts with the single box. Both SKUs sit in the table below, each with the pack count its price refers to.

Which specimens fit a 6 × 9 inch bag, and when is it the wrong size?

Blood tubes, urine containers, swab tubes and histology pots all sit inside a 6 × 9 inch bag with room left for the absorbent pad, which is why this is the size most Canadian clinics standardise on. It stops being the right answer when the primary container is a multi-litre bag or a large cytology jar: the walls cannot close around the sample, and a larger format is the honest choice. The table keeps size, build, rating, pack count and price on one line each, so the size can be checked against what you actually send.

Ordering for a collection room runs through the clinic supply planner, which turns a weekly specimen count into a reorder point, and institutional buying sits under wholesale purchasing. CliniEco Medical is the Canadian importer of record for this bag, MDEL #35334.

Specifications you can hold us to

What the two pockets do for you

• Front pocket — holds the primary receptacle. Sealed separately from the outside world, so a leak never reaches the carrier.

• Absorbent pad — sits in the front pocket beside the container, where P650 (7)(d) requires it. Supplied separately, so you buy it when your samples are liquids instead of paying for it on every bag.

• Back document pocket — keeps the requisition and the specimen physically separate, which is both the P650 requirement and simple good practice. Samples turning up with a soaked requisition are a daily problem for laboratories.

What UN3373 and 95 kPa actually mean

This is the part most listings get wrong, so here it is properly.

UN3373 is a transport classification, not a product feature. It covers Category B biological substances — the human or animal specimens that move between a clinic, a laboratory and a referral lab every day. The packaging rules for Category B are set out in ADR P650 (and IATA 650 for air), and they are what this bag is built for.

95 kPa is a performance requirement, not a material. P650 (7)(e) says the primary receptacle or the secondary packaging must withstand, without leakage, an internal pressure of 95 kPa. That is a test the packaging has to pass. It does not tell you what the bag is made of, and a bag is not "95 kPa" the way it is "polyethylene". Any supplier who cannot explain that distinction is selling you a word, not a specification.

The absorbent pad is not a free upgrade — it is required. P650 (7)(d) requires absorbent material to be placed between the primary receptacle and the secondary packaging, sufficient to absorb the entire liquid content. That is why we supply the pad with the bag rather than leaving you to work it out at the bench. If you are buying a specimen bag without absorbent material, check what you are relying on for compliance.

P650 does not require a design-type approval or a certificate. The obligation sits with the shipper. A test report is commercial evidence and is genuinely useful, but a supplier claiming the regulation "requires a certificate" is mis-stating it.

What we can state plainly

• The pressure test figure is 95 kPa, per P650 (7)(e). Named, and quotable.

• Absorbent pads supplied with the bag, per P650 (7)(d). Not an optional extra when your samples are liquids.

• We stock and ship from Toronto, Ontario. We are the importer of record: Ecology Source New Energy Technology Co., LTD. o/a CliniEco Medical, Health Canada MDEL #35334.

The documentation we hold — and how to check it

Our specimen bags are built to ADR / IATA P650, which is the rule set that governs Category B biological substances in transport. In practice that means two things: absorbent pads supplied with the bag for the liquids that P650 (7)(d) covers, and a construction that meets the 95 kPa internal pressure performance requirement in P650 (7)(e).

Test documentation is held per size. P650 itself does not require a design-type approval or a certificate, and any supplier who tells you it does is mis-stating the regulation. Reports are commercial evidence, and they are genuinely useful when you need to satisfy a laboratory or an auditor. So: ask us which sizes we hold test reports for, and we will tell you exactly what we have before you order. We would rather you ask a direct question and get a direct answer than buy on the strength of a word.

Report reference. Test report TJA20211102-0116 issued by China Packaging Research & Test Center (Tianjin), CNAS L0227. Full report available on request for audit purposes.

What matters more, and is often missed: the report has to identify the item it tested. ISO/IEC 17025 §7.8 requires a test report to uniquely identify the sample tested. A report that names a model number but not a size does not demonstrate performance for a size you are buying. If you are relying on a report for an audit, check that it names the size on the face of the document.

• If a different size suits your specimens better, we will say so — including pointing you to a larger bag if that is the honest answer.

Why buy specimen transport bags from us rather than a general supplier

Transport packaging is a compliance question, not a stationery question. A clinic that gets it wrong is the one that carries the exposure, and the laboratory receiving a leaking or non-conforming sample is entitled to reject it and ask for a repeat. We sell this line because we can explain the rules, name the clause, explain what a test report does and does not prove, and tell you what to write on the paperwork. Most sellers of "95 kPa bags" cannot do any of those four things.

Ordering. Ships from Toronto. Tell us your specimen volumes and route, and we will confirm the right size and pack in writing before you commit.

Choosing the right option for your clinic

Before you order, the decisions that actually change the result are the three packaging layers, what 95 kPa actually certifies, and what an inspector asks for when a specimen ships. The full buyer's guide covers them step by step: UN3373 Category B Packaging Explained: IATA PI 650, 95 kPa and What Inspectors Look For.

Related supplies for the same workflow

• graduated leak-proof specimen cups, 90 mL, 100 per pack
• red biohazard medical waste bags, 30 gallon