Fill or Coat the Collection Vessel

1. Fill the collection vessel with collection liquid. You will need:

• Sterilized collection vessel(s)

• Pipett e

• Sterile collection liquid (can include, but is not limited to, sterile distilled

water, physiological saline, PBS, nutrient broth, or peptone water)

• Aluminum foil or Parafi lm

If using ViaTrap mineral oil as the collection liquid, sterilize it by fi ltering it through a

0.4-μm pore size sterile polycarbonate membrane fi lter. Do NOT autoclave ViaTrap;

heating the oil will make it cloudy.

a. In a sterile environment, aseptically pipet the appropriate amount of sterilized

collection liquid into the sterilized collection vessel.

If using a viscous liquid, such as ViaTrap or glycerol, pipet less than 20 ml of

viscous liquid into the 20-ml collection vessel (< 4 ml inside a 5-ml collection

vessel) to prevent overfl ow of liquid outside the sampler.

b. In the same sterile environment, assemble the clean, sterilized inlet, nozzle

section, and fi lled collection vessel.

c. Temporarily seal sampler inlet and outlet with aluminum foil or Parafi lm to

maintain sterility.

2. Coat the collection vessel. You will need:

• Sterilized collection vessel(s)

• Pipett e

• Sterile solution for coating (can include, but is not limited to, petroleum

jelly/hexane solution)

• Aluminum foil or Parafi lm

a. In a sterile environment, prepare coating solution. Note: SKC recommends

using a petroleum jelly/hexane solution (approximately 0.1 gram petroleum jelly

per milliliter of hexane).

b. Aseptically pipet a few drops of solution into the collection vessel and rotate

it so that its entire inner surface is wett ed. Ensure the coating covers the

region where the air jets impact the inner surface of the collection vessel. The

hexane will evaporate within fi ve minutes, leaving a uniform sticky layer on

the inner surface of the collection vessel.