Testing for Solvents: Is It Worth the Cost?

oldrunnerguy

oldrunnerguy

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Testing my peptides for purity, content, and endotoxins is something I'll keep paying for—that's a given on my end. What I'm trying to get a handle on and learn more about is the 'worth it' side of solvent testing. From what I gather, peptide production can involve some fairly harsh solvents, and a few of them are quite dangerous if they show up—carbon tetrachloride, Dimethylformamide (DMF), Trifluoroacetic Acid (TFA), just to name a few. Has anyone here run residual solvent testing on their peptides? Do you think it's worth doing? How big a deal is this in reality? I'd really appreciate hearing from people who know far more about this than I do. Thanks.
 
Eventually you reach a point where you have to draw the line. For me, checking purity and mass — mainly the mass side — always justifies the expense. Endotoxin screening at this stage is likely borderline, though still worth doing. By and large, endos have not presented problems, and only the most extreme cases we've encountered would even have the potential to affect most people. But sooner or later you have to accept that if this level of concern is where you're at, Lilly remains an option. Gray always carries some degree of risk. You can cut those risks down considerably through careful vendor selection and testing, yet you cannot remove them entirely — so chasing that goal is futile.
 
According to StG, each batch "should" undergo testing for mass/purity along with endotoxins, while checking a vendor's manufacturing process periodically for TFA and heavy metals suffices.



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Their position is also that sterility testing is mostly pointless since people ought to be filtering. That strikes me as sound guidance, yet I would still want a bit of sterility testing simply to understand what I'm dealing with.
 
Solvent testing will probably go on my list alongside the usual panels. Since I'm buying for several people, the extra cost pays off for them as much as for me.
 
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