Handling DEPC under nitrogen/argon - (Nov/26/2013 )

I just bought some DEPC (from Sigma-Aldrich) for treating water. The instruction sheet says that after use, nitrogen or argon gas should be layered over the top. I have access to liquid nitrogen. Is there a reliable way to use this to pour gas into the bottle? Exposure to traces of moisture cause the DEPC "to hydrolyse somewhat".

Flushing the bottle with dry N2 or argon is what is recommended, but in practice almost no-one does this, unless they have a proper gas chamber for doing this sort of chemical handling.

In reality most people just accept that their DEPC will go off over a period of time, which means that they have to buy a new bottle about every 6 months or so.

Am I right in thinking that since the degradation reaction consumes water, little degradation is possible in any case? I'm now thinking it would really be negligible and wouldn't even need to be replaced after six months?

Don't know, I guess it depends on how often you open the bottle and how humid your air is.