How to Choose Lab Glassware Equipment

1. How to Choose Lab Glassware Equipment? ======================================================== Laboratory equipment, be it plasticware or glassware, significantly affects the experiments' quality, efficiency, and accuracy. Whether you are increasing the equipment inventory or establishing a new laboratory, choosing quality glassware equipment is essential. We understand that choosing quality glassware can be an overwhelming decision for some who are inexperienced or new to the field. Thus, this blog highlights important factors you must consider when buying glassware from a laboratory glassware supplier. Type of Glass Some of the most common glassware used in laboratories are media bottles, flasks, beakers, test tubes, pipettes, and graduated cylinders. These are available in different sizes and specifications to meet several purposes. However, all of these pieces of equipment are made using different types of glass, often two: borosilicate glass and regular glass. Equipment made from regular glass is often at risk of expansion when heated to extreme temperatures. Borosilicate glass, on the other hand, is made of boron trioxide, allowing minimum thermal expansion. As a result, equipment made of this glass will not break even when exposed to extreme temperatures. Transparency Glassware offers several advantages in a lab setting, including transparency & dimensional stability, as well as chemical resistance & durability. Accuracy of glassware equipment is crucial since researchers or laboratory staff to read volumes & observe reaction accurately. theclinivex.com

2. Durability: Chemical and Mechanical Resistance Glassware equipment is exposed to biological materials, extreme temperatures, and harsh chemicals in a laboratory setting. It is crucial to ensure that your laboratory has quality glassware equipment to maintain the integrity of lab experiments, tests, and work. Lab glassware manufactured using ASTM E438, Type I, Class A, 3.3 borosilicate glass has necessary properties, including acid resistance, hydrolytic resistance, alkali resistance, and temperature resistance. These properties are important for the efficient and accurate functioning of the equipment. Laboratory glassware must undergo some basic tests to ensure durability and exceptional resistance. Some of these tests are: •Autoclaving (method of sterilizing lab equipment) •Centrifugal test •Capacity fill test •Leakage test •Pour test •Permanency of marking by acid and alkali tests Precision Standards Ensuring that your laboratory glassware meets the global ASTM standard is a must. These industry standards indicate the highest level of tolerance and precision, especially those related to volumetric measurements. Under the ASTM standards, glassware marked as Class A often meets accuracy and construction requirements. Glassware equipment belonging to the category Class B often has the same design specifications; however, the volumetric tolerance in this case is twice that allowed for the Class A category. Packaging Ensuring that all your laboratory glassware arrives safely with no breakage or cracks is extremely important. Broken or tempered glassware can disturb the lab task’s efficiency and performance. Conclusion Laboratory glassware's contribution to the efficiency and accuracy of experiments/tasks cannot be overlooked. However, sourcing the equipment from a trusted supplier or manufacturer is important. Regardless, make sure to consider all the above-mentioned factors when placing an order for your lab glass supply. theclinivex.com

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