Vacuum Syringe Cleaner Commercial syringe cleaners are available that use both heat and vacuum to clean the syringe. These are very efficient, but their relatively high price may be prohibitive to all but the most affluent or critical of laboratories. It is usually found, however, that elimination of "ghost" peaks in chromatograms or mass spectra justifies the high initial , east (of the order of $100). For those who would prefer not to spend so much money, a n alternative is available that promises similar high performance characteristics as the commercial heat and vacuum cleaners but that may be made from ordinary laboratory " equipment a t a fraction of the price. It may be used to clean all types of syringes with Luer, fixed or removable needles rapidly. Apparatus that is required includes: (1) a glass vacuum flask: (2) rubber tubing ta m mnGE connect the flask to a vacuum source; (31 a rubber stopper with a single bore hole to fit in the neck of the flask; (4) a long-stemmed glass funnel to fit in the rubber stopper so that the tip of the stem protrudes below the sidearm ofthe flask;( 5 )a gas chromatography septum that should be of larger diameter than the internal diameter of the funnel stem. After boringor drillinga 1-2-mm hole in the septum, it may he placed in the funnel and a vacuum applied. An assembled apparatus is shown in the figure. Using this apparatus, syringes may be efficiently cleaned hy removing the plunger and placing the needle through the hole in the septum (if necessary, slight finger pressure should be applied to create good suction). The inner volume of the barrel may then he cleaned by dropping milliliter amounts of a n appropriate solvent from a wash bottle on to the top of the barrel. If necessary, a cleaning wire may be threaded through the h a r d to remove stubborn deposits. A few extra seconds without solvent rinsing should be sufficient to dry the barrel. The plunger may be cleaned by simple rinsing with solvent. After cleaning, the syringe may be loadedwith sample in the usual way. The absence ofheat during the cleaning process does not appear to compromise injection integrity.
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Michael N. Quigley Chevron Science Center University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA 15260
520
Journal of Chemical Education
