General BD Vacutainer^® Blood Collection Tubes FAQ

BD Vacutainer^® Plus Tubes are made of a special formulation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This special formulation is extremely strong, dimensionally stable, and resistant to chemicals and breakage.

All non-gel separator blood collection tubes, including those that contain heparin, EDTA and non-gel serum tubes can be centrifuged at room temperature at a speed of >1300 RCF for 10 minutes.

For coagulation analyses different plasma specifications can be obtained from the citrated blood:
- Platelet-rich plasma: 1500 -2000 g for 5 minutes at 18-25°C
- Platelet-poor plasma: 2,000-2,500 g for 10-15 minutes at 18-25°C
- Platelet-free plasma: > 3,000 g for 15-30 minutes at 18-25°C

The BD Vacutainer^® SST^™ and PST^™ gel tubes should be centrifuged at room temperature at a speed of 1000 to 1300 RCF for 10 minutes in a swing bucket centrifuge and 15 minutes in a fixed-angle centrifuge.

The BD Vacutainer^® Barricor^™ Plasma Blood Collection Tubes have a mechanical separator and must be centrifuged at a minimum RCF of 1800 for 10 min in a swing bucket centrifuge.

BD Vacutainer^® Barricor^™ tubes are optimally centrifuged at an RCF of 4000 for 3 min in a swing bucket centrifuge. BD Vacutainer^® Barricor^™ tubes are not compatible with fixed angle centrifuges.

BD Vacutainer^® Plus Plastic Serum and SST^™ tubes are coated with silicone and micronized silica particles to accelerate clotting. A silicone coating reduces adherence of red cells to tube walls. The silica coating can sometimes cause the inner tube wall to appear cloudy and/or filmy. This cloudy appearance is normal and does not affect use.

Most BD Vacutainer^® Blood Collection Tubes are packaged 100 tubes/polystyrene tray and 1,000 tubes/case (10 trays).

BD does not claim that any of the BD Vacutainer^® Blood Collection Tubes are endotoxin free.

The expiration date on the tube label is stated as a Year/Month/Day.

Local waste collectors should be consulted to see what the proper method of disposal is for unused, expired blood collection products.

Yes, BD Vacutainer^® Blood Collection Tubes have a sterile interior. Tubes are sterilised by gamma irradiation.

BD Vacutainer^® Blood Collection Tubes are irradiated to achieve sterility. These tubes are sterile on the interior only. We cannot recommend re-sterilising the tubes, i.e., ETO (ethylene oxide) or autoclaving, primarily due to pressure changes that take place during the re-sterilization cycle. Our tubes are under a specific negative pressure to ensure correct draw volume. During the re-sterilization cycle this negative pressure may be altered and therefore the tubes may not draw correct blood volume.

BD offers a sterile peel-apart pouch (reference number 366401) that contains a 10 mL glass red top serum tube and 7 mL glass lavender top EDTA tube.