(kein Betreff)

[Taliaferro, Dwayne (NIH/NIMH) [F]]

I read somewhere that EtBr can cross through latex gloves (nytrile gloves are safe)---just to add to the hysteria.  :P


On 11/11/09 4:08 PM, "Allan" <allan.jones from gmx.de> wrote:

Hi!

I'm back to the old ethidium topic again! I have been working with this
chemical a lot over the past two years and have been wondering how
mutagenic/carcinogenic/teratogenic it actually is in the body. I can't
imagine whether it will be resorbed via the skin into the blood system
or whether a polar molecule of this size will cross the blood-brain
barrier/seratoli barrier/placenta.

Don't get me wrong, I am careful with this substance, but being quite a
worryful person, I am sometimes worried that somewhere in the lab there
could be contamination from coworkers (you can't always run around with
a UV light)

Different people in the lab treat the chemical with different degrees of
caution and I just wonder whether microgram quantities present a serious
risk or if they are rather more comparable to smoking a cigarette.

I sometimes ask myself whether the amount of hysteria made around etbr
is justified when chemicals like formaldehyde, phenol and chloroform are
also used in the lab.

Does anyone have a clue as to the risk of this chemical (in comparision
to say a cigarette), especially in terms of crossing the placenta etc.
and do you know how long it is stable in normal light?

Thanks for any answers, as I am getting a little worried about the
substance!

All the best,

Allan

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