Sterile means the absence of living organism. It doesn’t mean “free from all contaminants”. That’s why “sterile water” doesn’t make it safe for injecting unless it specifies “for injection”, which is a higher standard defined by USP.
.22um filtration removes all viable bacteria. It’s called “sterile filtration” for that reason and one of the final steps (usually one of several) before filling injector pens in pharma peptide production meant as a safeguard against any earlier failure to prevent bacterial contamination.
It doesn’t remove virii, though it’s unlikely any could survive in a lyophiiized peptide vial, and it doesn’t remove endotoxin (which are evidence bacteria are or were present at some point, only emphasizing why one should always sterile filter). But the risk presented by bacteria is far larger than endotoxin.
Nearly 5% of peptide samples submitted to Jano fail sterility testing, and that’s only testing for the 5 most common types of bacteria. Since subQ injections are going into the area where immune surveillance is most active, it’s understandable why small amounts of bacteria aren’t causing noticeable issues. But that doesn’t mean someone’s luck won’t run out at some point, either by being exposed to something their immune system isn’t up to defending against, or that the cumulative load of many asymptomatic injections of bacteria isn’t causing some long term damage that’s not easily attributable to them. There’s some evidence bacteria from “dirty” injections can accumulate in joints, where they are out of the reach of immune cells, and take advantage of a weakened immune system later, or just cause arthritis (something observed to happen at exponentially higher rates in people who injected street drugs at some point in their lives).
The idea that either you “trust” the product enough to use it without filtering, or don’t use it at all is a flawed approach with UGL drugs.
Telling a heroin user they should stop using is both obvious and ineffective. Meeting them where they are by offering clean injection gear is far more likely to lower the harm they’re exposed to.
Harm reduction is about reducing risk, not eliminating it. Filtering absolutely reduces risk.
It is better use of ppl's time to use products tested for sterility and endos. If your vial is contaminated a filter doesn't decontaminate it. We aren't taking a dirty sample and filtering it to make it whole again. You can't change the definition of sterile. If something is NOT sterile, passing it through a filter does NOT make it sterile. Filters aren't bulletproof.
You said sterile water isn't safe for injection unless it meets USP standards. You are injecting these filtered peps. That means they should meet that same standard. They don't. USP doesn't stop at a filter. It requires multiple purification steps and autoclaving.
You also said sterile filtration is one of several safeguards in pharma production. Yes. A failsafe. Big pharma uses nanofiltration and robotics to minimize contamination. You (or avg consumer) don't have that.
Filtering removes bacteria in a statistically significant way. I'm not disputing that. But 'significant' in a study doesn't mean 'sufficient' for a contaminated vial. Pharma standards assume bioburden of nearly and/or approaching zero going in. Like 1 CFU/10 mL. If you're worried about bacteria, you're past that by powers of 10s magnitude.
And even if the filter catches every bacteria, endotoxins remain. They can possibly cause fever, inflammation, sepsis. No filter fixes that (despite resellers bundling it with the dirty kits). Bigger picture, SubQ injection has a different risk profile compared to IV injection which is a whole nother can of worms. I
don't want to overblow endo or fear monger
. But my point is if there is significant bacteria then there is significant endotoxins being produced which can NOT be removed with a filter.
So yeah it's a Hail Mary. Reduces bacteria.
Technically harm reduction.
Let's not strawman, my main point in my comment is, "It does not make a safe vial sterile, and is not a decontamination technique". If you want to reduce glass and bacteria, go ahead and filter but don't get comfortable into thinking filtering makes a dirty vial sterile for inj.
I used to filter and still have hundreds of filters in a box. I no longer do it though. I personally feel that the risk of introducing contaminates from filtering is higher than what I may be removing. The "sterile" vials I get are rarely actually sterile. I have bought them from many sources and I always eventually find some dust or floaters in one. I'm not against filtering if it gives you piece of mind, but I think the risk of inducing problems is higher unless you are in a sterile environment under a laminar flow hood and autoclaving your own supplies. I actually have the autoclave and hood from my mycology hobby and sometimes think about setting them up for filtering. But then I remember that I used to bang drugs under bridges when I was younger, so the thought of a peptide taking me out seems pretty comical.
I came to that conclusion too, even if you use perfect aseptic technique, there is a huge chance you transferred ur filtered pep into a dirty vial that was labelled as "sterile". I think there are more efficient ways to reduce contamination when dealing with peps such as limiting a vial to a month tops. Not using the same syringe/needle for recon between vials. I hope no pep is loaded w/something to cause a severe rxn or even death, but ppl still can get nasty ISR such as lumps or a fever which is still terrible to go through.
I agree filtering adds steps and increase risk of introducing contamination. For me, simplifying my process and focusing on basic aseptic technique made more sense than hoping a filter can fix problems that it can't + problems the vial shouldn't have in the first place.
He's a know it all, and only his opinion matters. To him anyways.
Thank you for the compliment! I don't think I know it all, I'm stating lab technique and/or pharma manufacturing processes. And I read everyone one's opinion, and I replied to the thread with my opinion/what I believe is true with whatever topic we are discussing.
Overall, I do think filtering has a place like when preparing pens' cartridges since you have to transfer the whole recon solution into a different container (a needed step) and that is a step where risk of bacterial contamination from you (or environment) can be introduced etc. and that is a direct parallel to when you would use a filter in a lab setting (ex transferring solutions between sterile containers).