Water is a major component of all cell culture media and is therefore needed to prepare media, buffers, and additives, and as well as to serve many ancillary functions, such as heating, cooling, cleaning and rinsing. Thus, water quality plays an important role in the outcome of cell culture experiments. Contaminants in water used for cell cultures can occur in many forms, such as bacteria, yeasts or molds. These contaminants are usually visible to the eye or by optical microscopy. However, contamination from chemicals or other biological agents may also affect growth, morphology or behavior of cultured cells, yet be undetectable to the unaided eye. Water used in cell cultures must therefore be free of microorganisms and, in particular, of endotoxins, inorganic ions (heavy metals such as lead, zinc, etc.), and organic compounds (humic acids, tannins, pesticides, etc.). For more detailed information, please refer to the reference literature [1, 2]. Examples of typical impurities in mains water (tap water) and target values for cell culture work are shown in table 1.
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