Ethidium Bromide on my hands !

[woolie]

I am working in a research lab this summer between MSI and MSII and today I was thinking about lunch and whatever, daydreaming and I took my new gel out of the camera box (I don't know what it's called) with my bare hands. Later someone said something to me and told me the ethidium bromide from the gel would get into my dna and I would have all kinds of terrible complications. Not exactly "hand cancer," but you get what I'm saying.

Another lab person said, no way and that it would take ALOT of skin contact to get something bad.

Anyone know about this? should I be nervous? I scrubbed my hands till they were red. 😱

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[beanbean]

Your lab should have trained you to work with any harzardous chemicals in the lab. If you have questions, contact a physician, your employer's safety officer, or the MSDS sheet for the chemical.

SDN is not for medical advice.

 

[IAmAUser]

I am working in a research lab this summer between MSI and MSII and today I was thinking about lunch and whatever, daydreaming and I took my new gel out of the camera box (I don't know what it's called) with my bare hands. Later someone said something to me and told me the ethidium bromide from the gel would get into my dna and I would have all kinds of terrible complications. Not exactly "hand cancer," but you get what I'm saying.

Another lab person said, no way and that it would take ALOT of skin contact to get something bad.

Anyone know about this? should I be nervous? I scrubbed my hands till they were red. 😱

I wouldn't pipette the stuff by mouth, but touching a gel with your hands is NOT a big deal. Just use gloves next time and be extra careful if you are pregnant or nursing.

 

[mendel121]

I wouldn't drink EtBr or pipet by mouth, but touching a gel with your hands is NOT a big deal, just use gloves next time. If you are pregnant or nursing be more careful.

Not promoting it, use gloves!!!! However, I've spent the last 5 years working with the stuff frequently often with bare hands, and lot's of "old school" guys do it all the time. It's not smart, and please don't do what I did, but don't stress out if it happens once.

 

[Mumpu]

All your DNA are belong to us.

 

[idq1i]

1 - scrubbing your hands won't do much. Ethidium bromide goes into your skin rather quickly

2 - ethidium bromide concentration in a gel-staining solution is pretty low. a one-time exposure won't give you skin cancer. Next time, handle stained gels with hq nitrile gloves only.

 

[woolie]

1 - scrubbing your hands won't do much. Ethidium bromide goes into your skin rather quickly

2 - ethidium bromide concentration in a gel-staining solution is pretty low. a one-time exposure won't give you skin cancer. Next time, handle stained gels with hq nitrile gloves only.

Yep, I was told the hand scrubbing thing wouldn't help much, altho another lab person (down the hall from us) said that yes it goes into your skin but it is dead skin on the surface of your hands, for the most part, so it's not like it's moving all over your body. It would just sit on the skin's upper layers. Not like inhaling the steam from the just heated agar mixture, which would go right into lung tissue, and worse. That one, I am not even going to think about. I haven't done it so I won't worry about the steam thing.

But, as for gloves we just use the regular yellow latex ones. Should I really push for the purple ones? Normally I am so cautious about these things, but this one just went right by me. 🙁

Thanks for all these great comments. Lesson learned !! ouch -

 

[redruby]

Regular latex gloves should be just fine. Don't worry too much about the ethidium bromide, one time isn't going to mutate anything too badly.

I can't remember which reagent it was, but when I was an undergrad, I regularly used this one chemical with bare hands, no precautions. Then once, I saw one of the grad students using it in the hood with huge goggles on. I was like, um, was anyone ever going to say anything to me???

 

[LionKing]

Just another heads-up: the ethidium bromide will run off the gel in the opposite direction as your samples- i.e. it runs into the salt buffer- wear gloves!

 

[Mithridates]

Regular latex gloves should be just fine.

Yeah, i always used regular latex gloves, along with everybody else. But one time this sales rep came in and told me that the regular latex ones don't really protect against ethidium bromide. Of course, he was a sales rep. so he'd want me to buy his stuff, but I doubt he would make a claim like that without something backing it up.

 

[Happy613]

All your DNA are belong to us.

I haven't seen that thing in years!!!! amazing 🙂

 

[Dies Irae]

All your DNA are belong to us.

Oh no! They sent us up the intron!

 

[woolie]

What does that quote mean, about the dna ? I don't get it.

 

[beanbean]

What does that quote mean, about the dna ? I don't get it.

Do a google search on "all your base are belong to us"

 

[Thanatos]

Ethidium on your hands from a gel shouldn't mean imminent death......even though the concentration is very low you should still wear gloves. In the lab I worked in we used ethidium bromide for DNA extraction (very old school) and my boss would handle it w/o gloves all the time and says he has since he was a post doc (when James Garfield was president). This isn't diluted in a gel, this is like 10mg/mL straight pure EtBr, and he's never had any problems. You should wear gloves in the future, but it happens and you'll be okay.

 

[Medikit]

pretty sure EtBr isn't that bad of a carcinogen

 

[idq1i]

Yeah, i always used regular latex gloves, along with everybody else. But one time this sales rep came in and told me that the regular latex ones don't really protect against ethidium bromide. Of course, he was a sales rep. so he'd want me to buy his stuff, but I doubt he would make a claim like that without something backing it up.

The sales rep is not lying. Latex does not protect against etbr, AO or acrylamide. Nitrile does, but only is the exposure is short.

Open up a vwr catalog - they have a decent chart there

 

[thackl]

The sales rep is not lying. Latex does not protect against etbr, AO or acrylamide. Nitrile does, but only is the exposure is short.

Open up a vwr catalog - they have a decent chart there

If I remember correctly, Ethidium Bromide is actually thin enough to get into the DNA helices and cause base-pairing poblems that lead to DNA replication errors. You have repair mechanisms and one exposure should not cause a problem.

 

[nockamura]

Really? I've been told by safety officers that latex and nitrile will protect against EtBr and polyacrylamide, although I've never actually read the MSDS'. I handle Trypan Blue and 7AAD daily...wonder if I'm gonna get cancer now.

 

[Haybrant]

ive always used latex too; thing is that I really have no exposure to the gel; I simply take the gel in it's cast to the developer and slide it off without touching; then use a paper towel to trash it; no touching. I guess there is some etbr that may be present in the Tae soln, but thats even more dilute than the dilute gel.

 

[dca_55]

Our safety officers told us the same about latex not protecting 100% from EtBr and to wear nitrile. As for the gel, once EtBr is polymerized in the gel, the hazard to you is greatly reduced from what I've been told. Our safety office lets us throw away our EtBr gels in the regular trash, but the liquid EtBr has to go out in hazardous waste unless its very dilute. Another words, touching a gel once with EtBr in it is probably not that bad.

 

[labangel]

I don't know how true this is, but a PI that I used to work for once told me that handling a gel with your bare hands gives you about the same level of exposure to carcinogens as what you'd get from smoking 1 cigarette.

 

[DrChandy]

I am working in a research lab this summer between MSI and MSII and today I was thinking about lunch and whatever, daydreaming and I took my new gel out of the camera box (I don't know what it's called) with my bare hands. Later someone said something to me and told me the ethidium bromide from the gel would get into my dna and I would have all kinds of terrible complications. Not exactly "hand cancer," but you get what I'm saying.

Another lab person said, no way and that it would take ALOT of skin contact to get something bad.

Anyone know about this? should I be nervous? I scrubbed my hands till they were red. 😱

Ethidium bromide is a known mutagen. Before you get upset, though, agarose gels with ethidium bromide contain on the order of 5ul of 1% ethidium bromide per 100 ml of TBE+Agarose, which means there is .005ml of 1% ethidium bromide present on a 100ml gel. If ethidium bromide is also used in the running buffer, it will also be in the same proportions. Still, you should wear gloves when handling these gels.

 

[liverotcod]

You have no chance to survive make your time.

 

[AStudent]

I totally wash my hands with it all the time.


Sincerely,

 

[logos]

You'll be fine, although I wouldnt do it on a regular basis. Nonetheless, i've heard the assertion that "the dead skin cells on my hands are my gloves..."

As far as latex vs nitrile, I have no idea, except that pretty much everyone in research uses latex because its cheaper. The only people I know of that use nitrile are the synthesis people, because they deal with some nasty stuff. I cant imagine that latex is a problem with polyacrylamide, as it is mildly toxic at worst, I handle it bare handed all the time. Now the monomer is kinda toxic, makes my hands tingle a little if I dont wash it off right away.

 

[woolie]

These are all great comments and I have learned a ton from all this. This is why I love SDN! Today I went in and asked about the nitrile gloves and was told sort of what alot of people have said here. It would be ideal and best, but maybe not so necessary. 😕

Ok, so I am still a little confused there, but I also checked my hands under the UV light, which was neat, and saw nothing. I don't know, I am really super careful now and as it's just the 5 microliters bound up in the agar, as people have said, that might diminish the impact. I was also wondering about the repair mechanisms and whether our bodies are able to repair the occasional nicks and intercalations in the dna. I don't know the answer to that one.

I think I am going to do what Haybrant does and just slide these babies right onto the photomachine and the pick them up with paper towel.

 

[domukin]

All your DNA are belong to us.

😀 😀 😀 LOL

 

[chloejane]

I've worked with EtBr for molecular work for several years (just my "cv" for saying this)... Always wear gloves when working with EtBr because really it is a mutagen, however the characteristics of mutagenesis, ect, are really not well known/understood that I'm aware of. To put it in some perspective, go wash your hands and don't freak. Had it been rad, then yes, please freak and persue appropriate contamination protocol. Had you gotten EtBr in your eyes, wash them and call an opth. to make sure this is sufficient.
Putting your hands under the UV box to determine exposure really isn't a bad idea. The skin on your hands is thick enough that UV exposure should cause really minimal damage (keep in mind UV exposure is not a "good thing to seek out") If you splash EtBr in the eyes flush them well, but don't examine under UV due to damage to cornea/lenses from UV light.

The way EtBr acts as a mutagen is to intercalate into the coiled strands of DNA and basically the effect of this action as a mutagen is not well studied. UV can cause TT bridges to occur thus interfering with the appropriate course of DNA replication... so really UV exposure is probably more (much more) severe than EtBr exposure.

In the future, just wear gloves (purple, clear, pink, whatever) and use common sense

 

[chloejane]

the skin cells in your hands are very likely being sloughed from your body anyway as old/dead/dying cells (ie. stratum corneum)... repair mechanisms for these cells are likely non-existant because in a short period of time, the cells will be gone, regardless

 

[Doctor&Geek]

I guess I'm going to die early then....

<--- (Works with EtBr gels without gloves)

Phenol on the other hand - that's dangerous stuff.

 

[izibo]

I am working in a research lab this summer between MSI and MSII and today I was thinking about lunch and whatever, daydreaming and I took my new gel out of the camera box (I don't know what it's called) with my bare hands. Later someone said something to me and told me the ethidium bromide from the gel would get into my dna and I would have all kinds of terrible complications. Not exactly "hand cancer," but you get what I'm saying.

Another lab person said, no way and that it would take ALOT of skin contact to get something bad.

Anyone know about this? should I be nervous? I scrubbed my hands till they were red. 😱

EtBr is scary... period. Always wear gloves, and make sure they are Nitrile gloves as latex has been shown to be ineffective with EtBr (although its better then nothing).

 

[fever5]

latex = biological samples (i.e. bacteria, other cell culture, etc)

nitrile = any chemical (within reason; if you're working with somethicg really nasty well then you know you're working with gloves much thicker and better than nitrile). why not? they're almost as cheap. latex decompose
quickly.

oh and if you are working with SDS not in a hood, wear a FITTING mask!

the immune system can do amazing things as can DNA repair. maybe don't consider a career in lab work though. you must pay attention to details!

 

[noncestvrai]

Just don't leave your sample under UV for too long and screw up your experiment... 😉

Anybody working in a lab should have taken a lab safety course, and especially one when working with radioactive isotopes.

And for your sake, remember that length of exposure and concentration make the poison...don't do it again my friend.

Happy Lab ratting this summer!

noncestvrai

 

[evade]

Don't panic. If you got it on your hands this once, wash them well and remember to wear gloves next time. Anyone who's worked in a genetics lab for any amount of time has accidentally touched buffer or staining solution containing EtBr, and we're all still alive.

 

[r1oid]

EtBr used to be used as a meat dye back in the day to make it look fresher because of the red. But give your hands a break and don't go sitting them under the UV light to see if there is residual EtBr, that exposure is not good for your hands. Same goes with the UV in the tissue culture hood, that light is much more intense than your regular black light and it kills bacteria by messing with their DNA.

 

[zion]

if your nads fall off, than you should start getting concerned.

 

[kenshinoro2004]

it intercalcates your DNA... but one time won't kill you. Nitrile gloves are way better than latex crap.. I refuse to use latex, anywhere.

 

[mcody]

Here's an idea...why not just stain your gel in EtBr after you run it, i.e. dump it in some water and add the EtBr directly to the water. Then you don't have to worry about contaminated buffer and the gel will have very little residual EtBr after you rinse it a couple times before you photograph it or extract it. I don't understand why people add EtBr to the gel mix, since this seams just as easy.

 

[john99]

I've worked with EtBr for molecular work for several years (just my "cv" for saying this)... Always wear gloves when working with EtBr because really it is a mutagen, however the characteristics of mutagenesis, ect, are really not well known/understood that I'm aware of. To put it in some perspective, go wash your hands and don't freak. Had it been rad, then yes, please freak and persue appropriate contamination protocol. Had you gotten EtBr in your eyes, wash them and call an opth. to make sure this is sufficient.
Putting your hands under the UV box to determine exposure really isn't a bad idea. The skin on your hands is thick enough that UV exposure should cause really minimal damage (keep in mind UV exposure is not a "good thing to seek out") If you splash EtBr in the eyes flush them well, but don't examine under UV due to damage to cornea/lenses from UV light.

The way EtBr acts as a mutagen is to intercalate into the coiled strands of DNA and basically the effect of this action as a mutagen is not well studied. UV can cause TT bridges to occur thus interfering with the appropriate course of DNA replication... so really UV exposure is probably more (much more) severe than EtBr exposure.

In the future, just wear gloves (purple, clear, pink, whatever) and use common sense

Chloejane is right on...

 

[janderson001]

I was gonna ask something in my original thread, but it's closed so here I go..

As someone previously said above, the outer cells on hands are dead cells which protect your living cells. But is that the same for all skin cells, not just the skin cells in your hands, but also for skin cells in front part of your thigh, as in my case?

 

[SomeDoc]

I was gonna ask something in my original thread, but it's closed so here I go..

As someone previously said above, the outer cells on hands are dead cells which protect your living cells. But is that the same for all skin cells, not just the skin cells in your hands, but also for skin cells in front part of your thigh, as in my case?

You'll be fine- basically any skin that is not squamous mucosal, or your eyes, and you'll be fine. Everything else is squamous keratinized epithelium, which will provide a good barrier.

 

[Depakote]

SDN is not the place for medical advice. closing.