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For chromatography media, the ability to withstand stringent sanitizing conditions depends on the functional groups, attachment chemistries and the stability of the base matrices to alkaline conditions. The concentration of sodium hydroxide used for CIP and/or sanitization will often depend on the level of contamination. Also keep in mind that sodium hydroxide may be corrosive to both metal and skin. The benefits of using sodium hydroxide include efficacy and low cost, plus ease of detection, removal and disposal.Īlways ensure that chromatography media, columns, systems and auxiliary components are compatible with sodium hydroxide at the concentration, time and temperatures used. Since sodium hydroxide is a bacteriostat, it is also useful for storage. sodium chloride, to the sodium hydroxide solution to combine cleaning with sanitization as well. It is common practice in industrial manufacturing to save time by adding salt, e.g. Sodium hydroxide is also effective for inactivating most viruses, bacteria, yeasts and endotoxins. If lipids are bound to a protein, an increased concentration of sodium hydroxide may be required for effective cleaning. Its use with affinity media is restricted due to the limited stability of affinity ligands. Sodium hydroxide is widely accepted for cleaning empty equipment, cleaning packed chromatography columns (cleaning-in-place, CIP), sanitizing and storing chromatography media and systems.įor CIP, sodium hydroxide has been extensively used to remove proteins and nucleic acids from ion exchange, hydrophobic interaction and gel filtration media.
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