testing media sterility - (Aug/03/2011 )
Hi all,
Just wanted to know, how could we test sterility of media which we use the lab. The media is used to grow human leucocytes.
The simplest way would be prepare media and put it in the incubator and observe for a week or two.
But I have been told that there are some sterility testing kits. What do they test for? I looked at some sites.... like BD and Sigma.... but they all say they are for microbiology. Also, media volumes are 100-500 ml. Why would one need 500 ml of media to check sterility?
Please let me know, how you guys do it? Also, all this is for a certification from a govt body. So, how could we do it in a very simple but effective way.
(I would definitiely do it the way I mentioned above, but would that be accepted, even if all precautions were taken during the test)
Thanks,
Ameya
gt_ameya on Wed Aug 3 13:01:09 2011 said:
Hi all,
Just wanted to know, how could we test sterility of media which we use the lab. The media is used to grow human leucocytes.
The simplest way would be prepare media and put it in the incubator and observe for a week or two.
But I have been told that there are some sterility testing kits. What do they test for? I looked at some sites.... like BD and Sigma.... but they all say they are for microbiology. Also, media volumes are 100-500 ml. Why would one need 500 ml of media to check sterility?
Please let me know, how you guys do it? Also, all this is for a certification from a govt body. So, how could we do it in a very simple but effective way.
(I would definitiely do it the way I mentioned above, but would that be accepted, even if all precautions were taken during the test)
Thanks,
Ameya
If the testing is being done for any sort of government accreditation, the first thing I would recommend would be to contact the agency you'll be working with and get a list of approved methods for sterility testing. There's no sense in spending time/money on a procedure whose results won't be accepted. If they will accept "cultured" medium as proof of sterility, I would go with that.
You can also probably buy media that is process tested by the vendor for sterility. It may be worth a shot to talk to whomever you buy your medium from and see if they can save you the trouble.
Thanks for your suggestion.
I will be talking to the agency soon regarding this issue. I just wanted to know what people actually do in the labs. The media we buy is tested by the manufacturer for sterility.
Could you tell me what purpose are the sterility kits from companies like BD and Sigma? And why do they specify that those kits are for microbiology purposes alone. If, I buy a medium that supports growth of all sorts of bacteria then would that be a problem?
Thanks,
Ameya