Technical Bulletin

Decontaminating Pipettes
Best Practices
Introduction
As there are good reasons why researchers sometimes need to decontaminate pipettes, customers
occasionally ask why Rainin pipettes are not fully-autoclavable. The autoclavable parts on Rainin
pipettes are the shaft and tip ejector. This paper outlines some of the reasons why autoclaving may not
always be a good idea for high-quality pipettes, highlights some issues encountered with fullyautoclavable pipettes, and describes best decontamination practices for specific common
contaminants.
Autoclaving High-precision Pipettes Is This a Good Idea?
Rainin pipettes are precision instruments, and are calibrated during manufacture to maintain rigorous
specifications during use. The high-quality materials used in the pipette expand and contract at different
rates when exposed to temperature change, based on their individual coefficients of thermal expansion.
Autoclaving subjects these parts and materials to a very high temperature. It is never safe to assume
that parts will return to their original shape and size, and thus to their original calibration setting, when
cooled. Additionally, because of the cumulative adverse effects of the high temperatures during
autoclaving, a precision pipette can be autoclaved only a set number of times before needing to be
replaced, in effect making it a disposable pipette.
Compare this with pipette tips, which are specifically designed to be autoclaved; the tip internal and
external dimensions are taken into account in the design phase, so tips can withstand one autoclaving
cycle. Tips are designed for one-time autoclaving and disposable use, as opposed to pipettes, which
are designed to be used over and over, for years.
Limitations of Autoclaving for Decontamination
There is scientific debate over the kinds of contamination autoclaving can clean up. Autoclaving will
1
inactivate virtually all infectious material, except for prions . However, DNA molecules and RNase
2,3,4
, and are the major
enzymes retain their activity despite the high heat and pressure of autoclaving
contributor to contamination-induced experimental error. These sources of contamination are best
treated using chemical methods.
Decontamination of Pipettes
The most common parts that come in contact with sample are the tip ejector and shaft. These parts
(see Picture 1) may be autoclaved for 1520 minutes at 121C at atmospheric pressure to inactivate
microbial contamination, but DNA will not be removed. For microbial and DNA-contaminated pipettes,
the external body, shaft and tip ejector should be wiped with a damp cloth with a fresh 10% chlorine
bleach solution, rinsed or wiped with distilled water, and dried thoroughly. (Avoid bleach getting into
contact with the display window; the bleach may cause fogging, necessitating window replacement.)
The pipette should be partly dismantled and the piston and other internal components cleaned as
above, then wiped with isopropyl alcohol to remove the bleach residue before the instrument is
reassembled. It is often a good idea to replace the seal and o-ring on a newly-cleaned piston (see
5
Picture 2). For RNase decontamination, any one of several commercially available solutions can be
used to clean the pipette.

Maintenance and Care of Your Rainin Pipettes

Technical Bulletin

With proper care and maintenance, Rainin pipettes will provide many years of service, and are easy to
disassemble, clean and reassemble. Beyond regular cleaning, you can also use proper pipetting
techniques and filtered tips as a way to prevent contamination in the first place.
Additional information on Care and Maintenance of Rainin Pipettes may be found by reading the free
Rainin publication AB-14, available in the SharePoint at the url:
http://inside.mt.mtnet/sites/sbu_pipetting/Applications/default.aspx. You will need Adobe Acrobat
Reader to view these documents.
References
1) http://www.ehrs.upenn.edu/programs/bio/selectagents/sa_destruct.html
2) http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v3/n2/full/nmeth853.html
3) Elhafi, G. et al (2004) Avian Pathology, 33:3, 303 306.
4) http://www.neb.com/nebecomm/tech_reference/general_data/avoiding_contamination.asp
5) http://www.biocompare.com/ProductListings/1413/RNase-Decontamination.html

Picture 1: Autoclavable pipette parts:

The shaft and the tip ejector

Picture 2: Location of the seal and o-ring

on the piston

Rainin is a trademark of Rainin Instrument, LLC. a METTLER-TOLEDO Company

TR-2006-1 Rev 1010