Carbolite oven enables safer sample preparation

Carbolite’s high-temperature oven for purifying glassware has enabled ELGA LabWater to stop using chromic acid for sample preparation.

The oven ensures ultra-clean glassware for the preparation of samples in the R and D laboratory where new high-purity water systems are designed.

A company statement said: "Minimal total organic carbon (TOC) levels, which are used as an indicator of overall organic purity, are a key requirement for users of pure water in laboratories. ELGA’s PURELAB Ultra system achieves TOC levels as low as 1 µg/litre."

Before the high-temperature oven, the firm had to soak glassware in chromic acid which it describes as "toxic and corrosive".

Samples are now rinsed in ultra-pure water and then heated to 450 degrees Celsius for two hours in the oven, preventing the need for the acid.

Carbolite was established in 1938, and claims to have over 60 years of design and manufacture experience, operating in over 100 countries.