HDPE and LDPE plastic have good chemical resistance to most lab chemicals and are practical for everyday use. View our Chemical Chart for more information on specific chemical resistance information with these materials.
Amber bottles and containers offer the ideal solution for light-sensitive chemicals and come in opaque and translucent varieties. Amber color comes in polyethylene and polypropylene varieties.
PETG bottles are extremely clear and can be reused after storing tissue culture media, buffers or other biologicals. PETG media bottles can be disinfected with UV light or ethylene oxide gas, or sterilized with bleach. Autoclaving in a proper container of bag will melt PETG media bottles for incineration, which will produce only CO2 and H2O.
Polycarbonate containers are transparent, lighter and safer than glass, extremely tough and non-toxic. They are autoclavable for sterile applications and useful for large-volume media and culture preparation, especially where visual inspection of contents for quality is important. Ideal for refrigerated or frozen storage of aqueous solutions.
Polypropylene bottles and containers are autoclavable. They are ideal for environmental sampling, pharmaceutical and chemical packaging, and for laboratory samples.
Teflon™ plastic lab bottles are extremely chemical and corrosion resistant, and often autoclavable. The only labware which can store strong oxidizing agents is Teflon™ FEP or PFA.
Caution: Do not store strong oxidizing agents in plastic labware except that made of FEP or PFA. Prolonged exposure causes embrittlement and failure. While prolonged storage may not be intended at time of filling, a forgotten container will fail in time and result in leakage of contents. Do not place any plastic labware in a flame.
Chemical Resistance Information for Plastics
The following chemical resistance data is general information provided by Nalgene Labware about their own products. (See original PDF document here).
Not all of CP Lab Safety's products are manufactured by Nalgene, but those which are have been clearly marked as such and begin with a part number prefix "NG".
Chemicals can affect the strength, flexibility, surface appearance, color, dimensions or weight of plastics. The basic modes of interaction which cause these changes are:
- chemical attack on the polymer chain, with resultant reduction in physical properties, including oxidation; reaction of functional groups in or on the chain, and depolymerization
- physical change, including absorption of solvents, resulting in softening and swelling of the plastic; permeation of solvent through the plastic,and dissolution in a solvent
- stress-cracking from the interaction of a “stress-cracking agent” with molded-in or external stresses.
The reactive combination of compounds of two or more classes may cause a synergistic or undesirable chemical effect. Other factors affecting chemical resistance include temperature, pressure and internal or external stresses (e.g., centrifugation), length of exposure and concentration of the chemical. As temperature increases, resistance to attack decreases.
Mixing and/or dilution of certain chemicals in labware can be potentially dangerous. The reactive combination of different chemicals or compounds of two or more classes may cause an undesirable chemical effect or result in an increased temperature which can affect chemical resistance (as temperature increases, resistance to attack decreases). Other factors affecting chemical resistance include pressure and internal or external stresses (e.g., centrifugation), length of exposure and concentration of the chemical.
Environmental Stress-Cracking: Environmental stress-cracking is the failure of a plastic material in the presence of certain types of chemicals. This failure is not a result of chemical attack. Simultaneous presence of three factors causes stress-cracking: tensile strength, a stress-cracking agent and inherent susceptibility of the plastic to stress-cracking. Common stress-cracking agents are detergents, surface active chemicals, lubricants, oils, ultra-pure water and plating additives such as brighteners and wetting agents. Relatively small concentrations of stress-cracking agent may be sufficient to cause cracking.
Mixing and/or dilution of certain chemicals may result in reactions that produce heat and can cause product failure. Pre-test your specific usage and always follow correct lab safety procedures. ATTENTION: Please be aware that, although several polymers may have excellent resistance to various flammable organic chemicals and solvents, OSHA H CFR 29 1910.106 for flammable and combustible materials, or other local regulations, may restrict the volumes of solvents which may legally be stored in an enclosed area.
