i touch agrose gel which contain ethidium bromide - (Jul/08/2009 )

Hello everyone


i have touched agrose gel which contain ethidium bromide ( this is my first time )

just know i undrestand that`s strong mutagen factor and that can make problem in first touch also


So i want to know am i going to have any problem because of this act ?
Am i going to take cancer :( only for 1 time touch ?


Regards
Hamid

hamid_v on Jul 8 2009, 06:35 AM said:

You will be just fine. Just wash your hands before you eat that donut.

Thousands of people touch EtBr everday, knowingly (touching the gel, EtBr bottle) or unknowingly (door handles, keyboards, instruments, bench surface etc in a busy lab with one careless person are contaminated). And this is going on for decades. I haven't heard of a cancer epidemic in researchers.

for more information see this topic:

alternative to ethidium bromide

mdfenko on Jul 8 2009, 09:32 AM said:

Thank you for answer , i have checked the link

i `m really sad ((

just review my situation once again and answer me Pls


That was around 0.1 gram ethidium bromide in 100ML TAE buffer

i poured the gel in Sink , i drained some water over gel , and then i moved the gel to dustbin using newspaper ( Newspaper got wet because of that )

So i have touched the gel when i moved from sink to dustbin ,

i had a little irritation in a finger and i washed that fastly with out soap


Sorry for any disturbing
i`m waiting your reply

You will be fine! There is a risk of developing cancer from ethidium bromide exposure, but it is quite low given that your exposure is very short and with a relatively low amount.

bob1 on Jul 8 2009, 05:22 PM said:

Really Tnx for reply


i have 2 another questions

1 ) my fingers have already scratched ( before touching the gel) so i`m more afraid about that


2 ) one anothet student (in our lab) keeps the Gel over gas cooker around 15minutes , The water was boiling but the gel didn`t get boil . thay might have any risk for us ?

as you know that was my first experience

i`m extremely sorry , i`m asking some different question because i`m real afraid & sad

hamid_v, I'm sorry you're so worried, but please don't be. You are worried because (like many) you've been misinformed about the dangers of ethidium bromide. This is a substance used by untold numbers of researchers in tens of thousands of labs around the world daily for decades -- can you find a single instance of it causing anyone any trouble?

Have a read here and here.