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Thanks, 
 

Evidence Custodian Joy Haines - Meridan City, Idaho
 

 Joy,  

First, IAPE generally recommends that biological evidence that has not been analyzed should be stored according to the requirements of the crime lab that will be processing any sample.

Storing all biohazards in one place is more for the safety of the evidence custodian.  If you know that everything in a particular area is a biohazard, you may be more inclined to use personal protect equipment.   As far as the "closed bin" issue is concerned there may be some circulation concerns for any items that.  

Now that I have said this, you should be aware that are some studies going on right now through the National Institute of Justice related to the long term storage of bio evidence. Hopefully within the next 12 - 18 months there may be something more concrete for all. 

There is no inherent problem putting a bag of dried bloody items on a shelf with other like sized items. Cross contamination should not be an issue if properly packaged, but degradation may be if it's too warm and moist. An additional reason that some departments are putting all of the biological evidence in one place is that they can sometimes ventilate that area separately.  As you know, the odors from these items can sometimes be  overwhelming.

Good Luck, Joe