X-Message-Number: 7441 Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1997 04:00:53 -0800 (PST) From: Doug Skrecky <> Subject: reducing cryoprotectant toxicity The following quote details a simple procedure for reducing the toxicity of ethylene glycol. This procedure may have application for other cryoprotectants as well. "An additional observation made during these experiments was that analytical grade ethylene glycol from a freshly opened bottle appeared to induce toxic changes resulting in poor function and very high enzyme levels. These changes were not observed when ethylene glycol had been allowed to stand in an open beaker at 37 C for 48 hrs. As ethylene glycol is commercially prepared from ethylene oxide gas, a very toxic substance used in sterilization procedures, we considered it possible that some of this gas remained dissolved in the ethylene glycol and diffused out or evaporated off when the fluid was exposed to air." Reference: Cryobiology 6(3) p 243 1969 Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=7441