Clear and colorless, with no visible particles. Benzyl alcohol is itself a colorless liquid, and at 0.9% it does not change the appearance of water, so a vial of bacteriostatic water should look exactly like a vial of plain water. Manufacturers describe the product as a clear, colorless solution, and that is the reference against which every vial is checked.
How to check
Hold the vial against a black background and then against a white background under good, even light, the same principle used in USP <790> visual inspection. Rotate or swirl the vial gently rather than shaking it, which creates bubbles that can be mistaken for particles. Look for haze, floating fibers or specks, glass fragments, fragments of stopper material, and any color. Air bubbles that rise and disappear within a few seconds are not a defect. See how to inspect a vial before use and the printable receiving checklist.
What a change means
- A tint of any color indicates the contents have changed, whether by degradation, by leaching from the closure or by contamination. The vial is rejected.
- Cloudiness or haze most often indicates microbial growth in a vial that has been open too long or entered with poor technique, or a precipitate from something introduced into the vial. The vial is rejected.
- Visible particles are usually a fragment of stopper cored out by a blunt or repeatedly used entry, glass from a damaged vial, or fibers. The vial is rejected. See how particulate matter is tested.
Record it
A rejected vial is recorded against its lot number, and a pattern of rejections in one lot is reported to the supplier with the lot number and photographs. See lot numbers and traceability and can bacteriostatic water go bad?
All BAC Water Supply products are supplied for laboratory research use only and are not for human or veterinary use.