Scientific Articles

Handling Liquids: Precision Is Important for Lab Operations

Scientists using pipettes and graduated cylinders to measure liquids accurately in a modern laboratory.
17 Mar

Any experiment in any discipline, ranging from chemical testing to biological studies, involves the handling of liquids. Liquids must be handled accurately whether in a pharmaceutical laboratory, a clinical diagnostics laboratory, or a research laboratory. Poor liquid handling can result in false conclusions, loss of valuable resources, and higher costs. The requirement of liquid handling, its practices, its products, and equipment involved in liquid handling for precision in laboratory tasks will all be discussed in this blog post.

Liquid handling: what is it?

Laboratory liquid handling involves accurate measurement, conveyance, and dispensing of liquids. Detailed knowledge of liquid handling ensures proper amounts of chemicals, reagents, or biological samples are employed in experiments that are crucial to reliability and replicability. Ultimately, all experimental results are collated and scrutinized, and if liquid handling is not precise, results might be incomplete, which may lead to false presumptions.

The Significance of Liquid Handling in Laboratory

1. The Role of Liquid Handling towards Accuracy

Handling liquids is part of the laboratory procedure. This will give unaccurate experimental results and make the study undefensible. Even a small error done when handling the liquid will greatly impact the experiment when one is dealing with chemical reagents or biological sample.

2. Reliability and Stability

The reproducibility and repeatability of experiments are ensured directly by the precision of liquid handling. Replication of the results of an experiment is critical in other areas of science, including clinical trials and pharmaceutical research. The integrity of experiments will be ensured by employing the optimum procedures for handling liquids so that precise results are always achieved.

3. Safety Procedures for Cleaning Liquids

Maintaining laboratory safety calls for accurate liquid handling. If hazardous chemicals, biological contaminants, or other solutions are handled incorrectly, spills, contamination, or even catastrophic reactions can happen. Workstation safety can be greatly enhanced in the laboratory using proper liquid handling techniques.

4. Resource conservation and cost effectiveness

Liquid handling errors usually result in waste, especially when costly reagents and chemicals are disposed of. Reducing the need for test duplication enables laboratories to save costly resources and eventually time and money in the long run, if precision increases in liquid handling.

Top Practices for Handling Liquids

The use of instructions for best practice in handling liquids can facilitate making jobs right in the first instance. A number of ideas follow:

  • Regular Calibration: Precision in liquid-handling devices needs calibration. Even the best pipettes will fail if not calibrated on a regular basis. Pipette and other liquid dispenser accuracy needs regular recalibration.
  • Correct Technique and Training: Laboratory personnel should be well-trained in well-defined liquid handling techniques to avoid improper air bubble liquid steering and transference, as well as unbalanced liquid measurement.
  • Minimize Evaporation: Evaporation may change liquid volumes while handling, particularly with smaller quantities, which may jeopardize the accuracy of measurements. Apply covers and restrict your activity to limited spaces to minimize this threat.
  • Utilize the Right Pipette Tips: The right tips for the pipettes are just as important. Incorrect tips may lead to fluid transfer without the tip being sealed, thus causing contamination. Make sure that you always choose tips that are suitable for your micropipettes and pipettors so that you can get the best out of them.

Things Used When Handling Liquids

There are several products used in laboratories to enable them to work with liquids as accurately and effectively as they can. All labs need to be equipped with the best quality liquid handling instruments so that they are able to fulfill any assignment with accurate outcomes. Laboratory Disposable Products (LDP) offers the following comprehensive range of liquid handling instruments:

Pipettes for transfers

Transfer pipettes are disposable, multi-purpose instruments employed for routine liquid handling and transfers. Transfer pipettes offer more than sufficient convenience and reliability for everyday tasks that have to be performed.

Centrifuge tubes and microcentrifuge tubes

In the laboratory where samples are to be prepared and analyzed, these centrifuge and microcentrifuge tubes are standard equipment. They can also be used in processing samples, storing samples, and separating them. By allowing safe storage and sample processing, they enable the utilization of centrifuges and other liquid handling equipment.

Syringe filters

For removing impurities from samples at any preparation and test step, syringe filtersare a must. They guarantee that no impurities will affect the sample’s or the investigations’ results.

Culture tubes and test tubes

The basic tools of any system for liquid stirring and storage are culture tubes and test tubes. They are integral parts of most labs that perform different liquid-handling operations.

Our high-quality liquid-handling tools at Laboratory Disposable Products (LDP) will enable your lab to achieve the highest level of accuracy and efficiency for each procedure performed.

Pipettors and micropipettes

For handling liquids, micropipettes and pipettors are very precise measuring instruments. Every task done in the lab will give you the basis to obtain more complex, dependable results in the field.

Pipette Advice

In any experiment or scientific laboratory involving the measurement and transfer of liquids, pipettes are a fundamental tool. In each experiment, the correct volume of liquid is delivered without contamination being possible.

Reagent reservoirs

Reagents and liquids are easily stored in a high-throughput setting in reagent reservoirs. They facilitate reagent organization and liquid handling and are optimized for multichannel pipette use.

Final thoughts

To wrap up, among the most crucial duties performed operationally within a lab is accurate liquid handling. Unlike some of the other means to measure something being correct, handling liquids is extremely challenging. The pipette’s, micropipette’s, and transfer pipette tip accuracy makes up for deficiencies in environmental analysis, early clinical diagnosis, and accurate pharmaceutical studies. In addition, purchasing good-quality liquid-handling equipment and following best practices of liquid handling can enhance the general safety and efficiency of lab operations along with yielding superior results, and saving resources.

To ensure the success of your lab, ensure to review Laboratory Disposable Products large inventory of high-quality liquid-handling equipment and supplies.

Newer How to Store Lab Reagents: Dos and Don’ts
Back to list
Older Which Isopropyl Alcohol Is Best for Medical Device Cleanrooms: IPA 70% vs. 99%