Bio-aerosols aren’t welcome in any laboratory. They can consist of bacteria, cell fragments, fungal spores or viruses, as well as byproducts of microbial metabolism. Aerosols are easily generated in various concentrations during simple routine tasks in the laboratory, such as centrifugation, pipetting or shaking.
For this reason, Eppendorf has taken another detailed look at the risk of contamination during pipetting and put their filter pipette tips to the test once again.
The results confirm that all tested sample types indeed generate aerosols which infiltrate, and contaminate, the lower part of the pipette. During this test, the use of pipette tips equipped with a two-layer filter proved to be extremely effective in the prevention of contamination through viruses, bacteria, mycoplasma and DNA. Independent of the type of sample, these tips prevented the infiltration of aerosols into the pipette shaft and thus ensured contamination-free pipetting. These results underline the critical role of high-quality filter pipette tips for reliable and reproducible results.
Application Note No. 490 “Reliable Protection Against Pipetting-Related Bio-Aerosol Contamination with ep Dualfilter T.I.P.S. Pipette Tips” describes the generation of aerosols when working with biological samples and the resulting contamination risk during pipetting.
