Guidance For Lab Washer Cleaning In Life Sciences

By Jeff Phillips

The principal concern for any scientist or technician working in the laboratory is that glassware, instruments, and equipment be free of interfering residues. These often unseen residues can cause invalid analytical results. For example, they can erroneously accelerate or decelerate a rate-dependent experiment by causing localized high concentrations of reactants inside micelles. They can inhibit culture growth, cross-contaminate batches, and cause unreproducible results. To avoid these problems, labware must be cleaned thoroughly and any interfering residues removed. This requires the use of both an effective cleaning method and an appropriate laboratory detergent.