Hey fellas,
i have a few questions lingering in my mind, regarding the alcohols that we use. Excuse me in advance if i geek out a little bit regarding the difference of the alcohols!
1. my Benzyl alcohol is oily. I guess yours is watery like regular alcohol, am i correct?
Well, it is from MRM Chemicals. A company in Poland. There were no signs or hints on the item webpage that this BA was solved in oil.
When i mixed this BA into the injection water (in order to create BAC water) i did wonder why there were some oil bubbles in the swirling water. After a very short while the oil bubbles did disappear though, and i now have BAC water that seems like regular BAC water (watery liquid with no oil bubbles). I drew out a few drops of this BA with a syringe from of its container bottle and poured it between my fingers, and realized that it indeed was oily.
2. My question is - disregarding the price - which of the 3 alcohols would you personally prefer for disinfection (esp. of vials):
natural alc 96,4%, isopropyl 99%, ethanol 99% ?
For disinfection of vials and so on, i have always been using ethanol ('natural alcohol' 'spirit of wine' 96,4%). It's made from fruits. It's quite expensive and is used to create alcoholic beverages. It's trice the price of isopropyl 99% or ethanol 99%. But since the 1L bottle has lasted me over a decade and is still going strong, due to my very low use, the price is negligible! The good thing about this alc is that since it is meant to be drank, it gives you peace of mind that no possible toxic residues will remain in the vials after the vials are dried. I also put the disinfected vials in an oven, as a second step of disinfection and to be 100.0% sure that all liquid in the vials has evaporated.
I have seen people on this forum using isopropyl (normally used to disinfect electronic parts) as a disinfectant of vials etc with no problems but.. if you're unlucky and the manufacturer screwed up.. then who knows. You always think that you know something, till life gives you a slap in the face and you learn better! That's why i tend to be very cautious rather than bold in all my approach. A fact about these synthetic alcs is that they are said to evaporate without any residues, which is a good thing, but they are not meant to be inside the body, which is a bad thing about them. Isopropyl e.g. is toxic, if drank (but apparently ok for wound disinfection). Ethnol 99% is not toxic (afaik) but it tastes bad and it is not meant to be drank. Interestingly enough BA is safe as a food additive but by chance mine happens to be oily and thus can't be used as a disinfectant of vials etc.
3. As far as the odor goes, natural ethanol is completely odor free, ethanol 99% does have a slight bad/bitter odor. I have not had isopropyl, yet. Does the odor of these synthetic alcs disappear after evaporation? Have you ever made a smell test of the dry disinfected vial?
Best regards,
4x7
i have a few questions lingering in my mind, regarding the alcohols that we use. Excuse me in advance if i geek out a little bit regarding the difference of the alcohols!
1. my Benzyl alcohol is oily. I guess yours is watery like regular alcohol, am i correct?
Well, it is from MRM Chemicals. A company in Poland. There were no signs or hints on the item webpage that this BA was solved in oil.
When i mixed this BA into the injection water (in order to create BAC water) i did wonder why there were some oil bubbles in the swirling water. After a very short while the oil bubbles did disappear though, and i now have BAC water that seems like regular BAC water (watery liquid with no oil bubbles). I drew out a few drops of this BA with a syringe from of its container bottle and poured it between my fingers, and realized that it indeed was oily.
2. My question is - disregarding the price - which of the 3 alcohols would you personally prefer for disinfection (esp. of vials):
natural alc 96,4%, isopropyl 99%, ethanol 99% ?
For disinfection of vials and so on, i have always been using ethanol ('natural alcohol' 'spirit of wine' 96,4%). It's made from fruits. It's quite expensive and is used to create alcoholic beverages. It's trice the price of isopropyl 99% or ethanol 99%. But since the 1L bottle has lasted me over a decade and is still going strong, due to my very low use, the price is negligible! The good thing about this alc is that since it is meant to be drank, it gives you peace of mind that no possible toxic residues will remain in the vials after the vials are dried. I also put the disinfected vials in an oven, as a second step of disinfection and to be 100.0% sure that all liquid in the vials has evaporated.
I have seen people on this forum using isopropyl (normally used to disinfect electronic parts) as a disinfectant of vials etc with no problems but.. if you're unlucky and the manufacturer screwed up.. then who knows. You always think that you know something, till life gives you a slap in the face and you learn better! That's why i tend to be very cautious rather than bold in all my approach. A fact about these synthetic alcs is that they are said to evaporate without any residues, which is a good thing, but they are not meant to be inside the body, which is a bad thing about them. Isopropyl e.g. is toxic, if drank (but apparently ok for wound disinfection). Ethnol 99% is not toxic (afaik) but it tastes bad and it is not meant to be drank. Interestingly enough BA is safe as a food additive but by chance mine happens to be oily and thus can't be used as a disinfectant of vials etc.
3. As far as the odor goes, natural ethanol is completely odor free, ethanol 99% does have a slight bad/bitter odor. I have not had isopropyl, yet. Does the odor of these synthetic alcs disappear after evaporation? Have you ever made a smell test of the dry disinfected vial?
Best regards,
4x7
