It has been known for several years that chemicals (e.g., BPA
and phlalates) can leach out of the plastic, such as toys and
baby bottles. The impact of these chemicals on human health is
well known. Recent scientific reports have now noted that
chemicals used in the manufacturing of disposable plastic
labware, such as slip agents or plasticizers, can leach out of
the plastic and affect laboratory experiments leading to
erroneous results.1-4 What comes out of your tubes and plates
During incubation (e.g., enzymatic assays at 37°C or DNA
denaturation at 95°C) chemicals used in the manufacturing
process can leach out of the plastic and contaminate your
sample.3 Figure 1 shows the absorbance spectra of water after
incubation in tubes from several different manufacturers. As you
can see, in contrast to other brand tubes, the water incubated
in Eppendorf tubes (blue line) shows no significant UV/VIS
absorbance. This suggests that no UV/Vis active substances are
released from the tube into the water. In addition, de