Design for Safe Reuse of Labware: Investigating Methods for Quality Assurance

Abstract

The problem of plastic waste in research laboratories is a significant one, with an estimated 5.5 million tonnes generated annually worldwide. Reusable labware has the potential to reduce this waste significantly, but the design of such products must take into account quality assurance to guarantee the accuracy of experiments. Insights were gathered through the generation of an overview of the available techniques for verifying labware after use and decontamination. As during different design cycles verification of prototypes is needed, these techniques were evaluated and translated to be applicable in the specific context of a design lab. Therefore, this study presents a protocol which can be used as a verification tool while designing safe, reusable labware for chemical laboratories. This protocol consists of four different steps: (i) visual inspection, (ii) mass & size comparison, (iii) leak test, and (iv) chemical stability test.

Trace elements increase reproducibility of microbial growth

“…However, a concentration of zero is an unattainable ideal. Possible sources of contamination include impurities in ingredients [13][14][15] and labware 16 , production and cleaning residues on labware 17 , and aerosols 18 . Since trace elements already take effect at very low levels, we expect such contamination to cause considerable experimental variability (Fig.…”