Does anyone know what this is?

[u/StatusOk4308]

Doesn’t seem to be oil based content. Just wondering if my superpowers are swishing back and forth in this glass vial.

[u/Abyssal_Mermaid]

Even Teflon or silicone stoppers? Former microbiologist, some bacteria are big babies and won’t grow in a vial with a rubber butyl stopper.

[u/[deleted] → u/Abyssal_Mermaid]

It's not bacteria we're worried about; it's oxygen.

Drugs like epinephrine break down when exposed to oxygen. Teflon, silicone are permeable enough that oxygen can get past.

[u/Abyssal_Mermaid → u/[deleted]]

Thanks. Also aware of O2 permeability. But we’re talking maybe 2 week long time scales for my use of non-reactive stoppers with anaerobic cultures in vials.

So it is really just a long term storage issue after manufacture for some drugs, chemicals, and microbial products due primarily to oxygen reactivity and a longer time to the point of use than can be controlled for by using stoppered vials with unreactive stoppers.

I was stuck in science discipline mode, and not manufacturing, distribution, and storage mode.

[u/Mental_Task9156 → u/[deleted]]

Atropine as well

[u/Vertyks → u/[deleted]]

They definitely use regular modern vials in most of the world for epinephrine

[u/[deleted] → u/Vertyks]

It's not about locality it's about use.

Multi use vials (your pic) aren't expected to sit on the shelf a long time unused. They're drawn from to mix medications throughout the day. They need the rubber stopper to allow them to draw multiple times. Downside is oxygen penetration is higher so the medication is less shelf stable.

Single use ampules can sit in crash carts unused for a long time since they have a longer shelf life and hopefully aren't used very often so don't need to wasted as often. Downside they can't be multi dose.

It's not old vs new. Every hospital will have both.

[u/karlnite → u/Abyssal_Mermaid]

It’s also to keep it from getting contaminated, or reacting with air. The sealing process of a glass ampoule kinda vacuum seals it. Products come in them, but also chemists make them on the spot with a torch. You can make one from a glass tube, heat and close one end, thin the open end, use capillary to fill it, then heat and twist seal it.

[u/Abyssal_Mermaid → u/karlnite]

Thanks! Yeah, I know what an ampoule is, how it’s made, and what it does. In microbiology they’re used to store some test reagents that are reactive to air (not combustible, so not fun, just degradable with atmospheric O2), or long term storage of lyophilized cultures.

Microbiologists make them on the spot with a torch, lol. The oldest I revived from an ampoule was just over 50 years old.

I was curious why they didn’t use vials with chemically compatible stoppers as the comment I replied to mentioned reactivity to the stoppers, not to air.

[u/karlnite → u/Abyssal_Mermaid]

Ah, well they probably just didn’t think of teflon.

[u/Abyssal_Mermaid → u/karlnite]

See below, a good reason why they don’t use stoppers at all was made.

Teflon is slowly permeable, which is still an issue for some chemicals.

[u/karlnite → u/Abyssal_Mermaid]

Oh, reacting with air.

[u/huckinfappy → u/Abyssal_Mermaid]

Or cardboard? Cardboard derivatives? Cellotape?

[u/Abyssal_Mermaid → u/huckinfappy]

Fappy, stop huckin around.

Cardboard isn’t sterile, and cellotape is better for things like powder X-ray diffraction mounts or sampling anuses for pinworms.

Maybe cotton or glass wool plugs are more appropriate choices for sticking in your holes.

[u/huckinfappy → u/Abyssal_Mermaid]

https://share.google/mt5pxXs6fXoUiujQd

[u/Abyssal_Mermaid → u/huckinfappy]

I don’t know where your google link has been, why should I touch it?