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Technical libraryDOC TB-TL-001 · REV 01 · EFFECTIVE 2026-10-30

Aseptic technique for multi-use vials

How to open, enter and store a septum-sealed multi-use vial without compromising its contents over repeated withdrawals.

A multi-use vial is only as clean as the least careful entry into it. Benzyl alcohol limits the growth of many bacteria introduced during use, but it is a preservative, not a sterilant: it does not make a contaminated technique safe. This document sets out a practical, bench-level procedure for withdrawing aliquots from a crimp-sealed vial in a laboratory setting.

1. Scope

Applies to TrueBac Water TB-BW-10 (10 mL multi-use vial with elastomeric stopper and aluminum crimp seal) used as a diluent or rinse in in-vitro laboratory work.

2. Materials

  • A clean work surface; a laminar-flow clean bench or biological safety cabinet where your protocol calls for one.
  • Gloves and eye protection per your laboratory’s requirements.
  • Sterile, individually packaged 70% isopropyl alcohol swabs.
  • Sterile single-use transfer devices (for example a sterile needle and syringe, or a vented vial adapter) appropriate to your method.
  • A fine-tip permanent marker for dating the vial.

3. Procedure

  1. Inspect. Confirm the crimp seal is intact and the flip-off cap is present on a new vial. Hold the vial against light and dark backgrounds: the solution must be clear, colorless and free of visible particles. See TB-TL-005.
  2. Remove the flip-off cap by pushing it up with the thumb. Do not touch the exposed stopper.
  3. Disinfect the stopper with a fresh 70% isopropyl alcohol swab, using firm friction across the whole exposed surface. Let it air-dry completely; do not blow on it or wipe it dry.
  4. Use a new sterile transfer device for every entry. Never re-enter the vial with a device that has already been used, even for the same vial.
  5. Pierce the target area of the stopper with the bevel facing up, at a slight angle, then straighten. This reduces coring, where a fragment of stopper is cut free into the solution.
  6. Withdraw the required volume. Remove the device fully; never leave a needle or spike in the stopper between withdrawals.
  7. Date the vial on first entry: date, time and initials. The vial is discarded 28 days after first puncture regardless of remaining volume (TB-TL-002).
  8. Return to storage upright at 20–25 °C.

4. Things that defeat the preservative

  • Entering the vial with a non-sterile or previously used device.
  • Skipping or rushing stopper disinfection.
  • Many punctures in the same spot, which loosens the stopper and invites coring.
  • Storing a vial with a device left in the septum.
  • Pouring from the vial after removing the crimp. Once the seal is removed, treat the contents as non-sterile.

5. Records

Record the lot number of each vial used in your lab notebook or LIMS. If you ever need to raise a quality concern, the lot number lets us trace the vial to its laboratory report and to every other unit from the same lot.

Next document · TB-TL-002Storage, stability and beyond-use dating →