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Do We Need to Clean the Plunger
Between Uses?

No.

The aluminum plunger never contacts the Exhaled Breath Condensate sample that will be used for assay. Any contamination that may accumulate on the aluminum plunger will not contaminate your sample. Hundreds or thousands of RTubes can and should be plunged without cleaning the plunger between uses.

A small amount of EBC often is formed below the RTube™'s blue valve (and is not included in the sample assayed). This small amount of EBC does come in contact with the aluminum plunger. Assays are not affected in any way by this. However, it may make sense to rinse the plunger after a day's use.