How to get rid of Ethidium Bromide? - (Dec/10/2005 )
Not yet, anyway. Give it 20 years and then we will know for sure
THis may sound a bit silly but i stepped on an ethidium bromide Gel some idiot left lying on the floor of the room. i think i'ts probalby got less than 0.01% of ethidium bromide in it. I was wondering whether i should toss my shoes away or attempt to use bleach to decontaminate it. but after reading your postings about bleach, it seems like tossing my fav pair of sneakers is a better idea... 
A typical gel is .0001% EtBr. Personally, I think you're crazy to treat or throw away your shoes, unless you don't like them.
To be safe, you can try using SYBR Safe from Molecular Probes as an alternative to Ethidium Bromide. This has been tested not carcinogenic.
I understand that SYBR is ~ 200X less carcinogenic than EtBr. But still somewhat carcinogenic - so be sure to wear gloves and throw SYBR gels into an appropriate receptacle.
Open a window an let in the sunlight... if you're lucky enough to have a window in your lab.
i accidently spilled some used eletrophoresis buffer on my lab coat the other day and realized later some leaked through on to my pants. i subsequently learned later that the buffer was mildly contaminated with etbr just by running a gel with etbr in it for an hour. The final gel concentration was between 1 and .5 micro grams per ml. So i consulted the msds and it just said to wash contaminated clothing before reuse so i washed the jeans with regular detergent serarately. they then accidentaly got mixed with with my other clothes that went into the dryer. Could I have contaminated the rest of my clothing with ethidium bromide? the amount i probably got on my pants was small so should i even worry about it?
The Etbr on your clothes is washed away in the machine, no panic! The concentration in the buffer after running is also low so you dont have to be worried about it!
greetings Anja
hey,just turn the Molecular Cloning book and DNA chapter, u can find lotsa information about how to get rid of EtBr. Have a gud time.
Isnt Et. Br deactivated by light? vasussci is right.
wel it is deactivated but not all of them still you could find trace amount in solarized EtBr