EtBr half life? - (May/30/2006 )

Does anyone know or have a reference to the half life of ethidium bromide? Couldn't find it after a Google search...

Cheers!

hmm not sure but it must be extremely long (possibly negligible) as we have bought EtBR en mass and used it for years, without any observable loss in flourescence, as long as it was kept away from a light source

Hi,

EtBr life depends strongly on the "environmental conditions". Light protected and without suitable chemicals (i.e. in the original flask) I guess its very stable, under UV light or in presence of sodium nitrite/hypophosphorous acid (and other reducing agents?) its survival is quite short. Look at your agrarose gel on an uv-table and measure the time when the fluoresce is gone...

hobglobin