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Laboratory
Plastic and
Glassware
Composition
and Cleaning

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Clinical Chemistry I Laboratory
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Today's Discussion

Types of Tubing

Types of Glass

Types of Plastic

Laboratory Utensils/Equipment

Pipet Classification

Basic Approaches to Automation

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Types of Tubing
Natural Latex Rubber Tubing
Neoprene (Synthetic) Rubber Tubing
Synthetic Plastic Tygon Tubing
Teflon Tubing

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Natural
Latex Rubber
Tubing
• Durable and can be used for
glass connections
• Affected by contact with oils,
akali, corrosives, and hot water

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Neoprene
(Synthetic)
Rubber
Tubing
• Substitute for latex tubing
• Should not be used with
chlorinated or aromatic
carbons

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Synthetic
Plastic Tygon
Tubing
•Most useful
•Resistant to chemicals and
inert to chemicals

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Teflon
Tubing
•It is more expensive than
Tygon tubing but serves as a
substitute

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Types of Glass
Borosilicate Glass
Boron-free Glassware
Corex
Vycor
Flint Glass
Optical Pyroceram

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Borosilicate
Glass

a.k.a. Pyrex or
Kimex

- relatively inert
- high resistance to heat and cold shock
- all purpose or most commonly used
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Boron-free
Glassware

a.k.a. Soft
Glass

- high alkali resistance

- lesser thermal resistance than
borosilicate glass
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- amber or red color reduces light exposure
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Corex

- is a special alumina-silicate glass

- six times stronger than borosilicate glass
- resistant to alkaline etching

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Vycor

- has good resistance to drastic conditions

of heat, shock, chemical treatment and
high temperature
- acid and alkali resistant

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Flint Glass

- soda-lime glass containing sodium

oxides, silicon and calcium
- poor resistance to high temperature or
temperature changes
- poor chemical resistance

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Optical
Pyroceram

- made of soda lime, lead, and borosilicate

- high thermal resistance
- chemically stable

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Types of Plastic
Polyolefins
Polycarbonate
Teflon
PVC Plastic

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- relatively chemically inert

- resistant to most acids, alkalis, and salt

Polyolefins solutions
- can be autoclaved

Types of Polyoelfins:
Polypropylene - may be sterilized
Polyethylene - used in most disposable
plasticware and cannot be sterilized;
concentrated sulfuric acid attacks
polyethylene at room temp.
LDPE - flexible but almost unbreakable
HDPE - exhibits a higher chemical
resistance than LDPE

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Polycarbonate
- stronger than polypropylene and
has better temperature tolerances
- primary characteristic: clarity and
resistance to shattering
- used primarily in centrifuge tubes
and graduated cylinders

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Teflon
- extremely inert plastic with excellent
temperature tolerance and chemical
resistivity
- because of its non-wettable surface and
anti-adhesive properties, its is an excellent
material for stir bard, bottle-cap liners,
stopcocks, and tubing
- it scratches and warps readily

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Polyvinyl Chloride
(PVC) Plastic - soft and flexible but porous
- frequently in the form of tubing

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In many instances, plastic utensils

Notes to should be used instead of glass.

remember:
plastic utensils do not release ions into solution and
they are unbreakable

Some plastics such as polyethylene are

porous, and evaporation may be a
problem

Long term storage using plastic

containers is undesirable.

Long term soaking in acid should be

avoided because it makes the plastic
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Beaker

- used for general mixing and preparation

Laboratory
of nonvolumetric liquid reagents
Equipment
Funnels

- are most commonly used to transfer

liquids or solids into containers
Filtering funnel - usually 58 or 60°
angled funnel with either a short or
long, thin stems
Powder funnel - used in transferring
solids; with wide mouth stems to allow
easy passage

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Dessicators

- used to dry, or keep dry, solid or liquid

Laboratory
materials
Equipment
Graduated cylinders

- are narrow, straight-sided vessels that

are used to measure specific volumes
- may be calibrated to deliver (TD) or to
contain (TC)

Burets

- traditional buret are long, graduated

glass tubes with stopcock at one end; TD
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Flasks

- Volumetric flasks: are essential for

Laboratory
accurate preparation of solutions of known
concentration; TC Equipment
Syringes

- may be used for accurate volumetric

work such as the injection of small volumes
of
sample.

Centrifuge

- centrifuges are used in the clinical

laboratory to separate substances of
11 significantly different masses or densities.
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Electronic Balance

-is a single pan balance that uses an

Laboratory
electromagnetic force instead of weights to
counter the load placed on the pan Equipment
- most electronic balances have built-in
taring ability
- should be serviced at least annually

Thermometer

- used to measure temperature or

temperature changes with a high degree of
precision
- should be verified for accuracy at 6 or 12
month intervals.
- two types: total immersion (freezers and
11 refrigerators) and partial immersion ( water
baths and heating blocks)
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Water Bath

- it is used to incubate samples in water

Laboratory
at a constant temperature over a long
period of time. Equipment

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Pipet
Classification
Calibraton marks or design
Drainage characteristics
Types

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Calibration
Marks/Design
Pipet Classification

TO DELIVER (TD)
TO CONTAIN (TC)
- delivers the exact amount it
- it holds the particular volume
holds into a container
but does not dispense the
- example: transfer pipet, Mohr,
exact volume
serological

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Drainage
Characteristics
Pipet Classification

BLOWOUT
SELF-DRAINING
- it has a continuous etched
- absence of etched rings
rings on top of the pipet
- liquid is allowed to drain by
- exact volume is obtained
gravity
when the last drop is blown out

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Types
Pipet Classification

TRANSFER PIPET GRADUATED OR MEASURING PIPET

Volumetric Pipet - for non-viscous fluid; Serological Pipet – with graduations to the tip; blowout
self-draining Mohr pipet – without graduations to the tip, self-
Ostwald-folin - for viscous fluid; with draining
Bacteriologic pipet
etched ring
Ball, Kolmer and Kahn pipet
Pasteur Pipet
Micropipetes (<1ml)
Automatic macro or micropipettes
Sahli-Hellige pipet
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RBC and WBC pipets
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Notes to
Class A pipets do not require
recalibration.

remember:
Distilled water is the calibrating
medium for TD pipettes while mercury
is for TC pipettes.

Plastic tips are made of primarily of

polypropylene.

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Notes to
As the fluid is allowed to drain into the
receiving vessel, pipets should be held

remember: in a vertical position with the tips

against the side of the receptacle.

Imperfect wetting or the presence of

discreet droplets of water indicates
that the pipette is not sufficiently
clean.

Acid dichromate is a cleaning solution

for glassware.

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Three Basic Approaches

to Automation
Advantages:
Increase the number of tests to be
performed in a given period.
Minimizes variation of result from one
laboratorian to another
Eliminates the potential error in manual
analyses

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- liquids are pumped through a system of Continuous Flow

continuous pumping. Analyzer
- air bubbles at regular intervals: act as
separating and cleaning media
- mixing of sample and reagents: using a
glass coil inserted into the flow path

- uses the force generated by centrifugation

to transfer specimen and reagents.
- mixing of sample and reagents: centrifugal Centrifugal Analyzer
force (rotor) is utilized or bubbling of air
- major advantage: batch analysis

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- most popular and versatile analyzer.

- measures only the tests requested on a
sample.
- capable of running multiple-tests-one-
sample-at-a-time Discrete Analyzer
- mixing of sample and reagents: magnetic
driven teflon stirring bar, forceful dispensing,
magnetic stirring bars, rotating paddle, and
ultrasonic energy
- major advantage: random access
capability; allows STAT samples to be easily
tested

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Batch Testing
all samples are loaded at the same time and a
single test is conducted on each sample

Parallel Testing
more than one test is analyzed concurrently on a
given clinical specimen

Terminologies
Random Access Testing
any test can be performed on any sample in any
sequence

Sequential Testing
multiple tests analyzed one after another on a
given specimen
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Open Reagent System

a system other than manufacturer's reagents can
be utilized for measurement

Closed Reagent System

a system where the operator can only use the

Terminologies
manufacturer's reagents

Pneumatic Tube Delivery System

it provides point-to-point delivery of specimens
to the laboratory and offers several advantages
over specimen transport by humans.

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Are there any

questions?
How to get in touch

Messenger App
send me a private message

Email Address
faridabwong@su.edu.ph

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Safety isn't
expensive.
It's priceless.

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