[Sci-all-l] Contaminants identified in plastic lab equipment

[Flora Grabowska]

Published online 12 November 2008 | Nature 456, 152 (2008) | 
doi:10.1038/456152c
News in Brief
Contaminants identified in plastic lab equipment



Thousands of scientists could be unwittingly ruining their 
experiments merely by using standard plastic lab equipment, according 
to a study published in Science. Andrew Holt of the University of 
Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, found that a disinfectant and a 
lubricant used in the manufacture of plastic pipette tips, tubes and 
micro-plates could leach into common solvents, including water (G. R. 
McDonald et al. Science 322, 917; 2008).
Holt and his team determined that the contaminants are potent enzyme 
inhibitors, and skewed their drug-activity assays. "People in any big 
science department will say that they don't trust plastic in some 
experiments," says Holt. But the compounds responsible had never been 
identified before, he adds. Eppendorf, a manufacturer of some of the 
plastic products, says that "so far, we have not experienced any 
product problems with our customers due to these substances".
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