Scientific Reference
Bacteriostatic Water
Evidence profile: Component evidence only — this formulation has not itself been studied
Bacteriostatic water is sterile water with 0.9% benzyl alcohol added as a preservative, used in laboratories as a diluent. The benzyl alcohol slows the growth of bacteria that may be introduced when the same container is accessed more than once, which is the reason for choosing it over plain sterile water. It is not an antiseptic and does not make a contaminated solution sterile. Benzyl alcohol is not compatible with every material, and some peptides and proteins are sensitive to it, which is one reason plain sterile water and dilute acids remain in laboratory use alongside it. The solution is a supply rather than a research compound, and it plays no pharmacological part in the work it accompanies.
Mechanism of Action
Benzyl alcohol (C6H5CH2OH) is a simple aromatic alcohol. At the concentration used here it is bacteriostatic rather than bactericidal: it holds back the multiplication of many bacteria rather than reliably killing them. Its action is generally attributed to disruption of microbial cell membranes, which makes them more permeable and interferes with membrane-bound enzymes. The water serves only as the solvent. Because the preservative inhibits growth instead of sterilising, the solution does not decontaminate anything that is already contaminated, and it adds no pharmacological activity of its own to the material it dilutes.
Molecular Information
- Type: Solvent (bacteriostatic aqueous solution)
Published Research
Antimicrobial Preservatives for Protein and Peptide Formulations: An Overview
Stroppel L et al. · Pharmaceutics · 2023 · Review · Evidence for Benzyl alcohol (bacteriostatic preservative)
PMID 36839885 — View on PubMedCritical Aspects of pH Measurement for Bacteriostatic Water for Injection
Hu J et al. · Journal of pharmaceutical sciences · 2023 · Preclinical · Evidence for Benzyl alcohol (bacteriostatic preservative)
PMID 36870668 — View on PubMedMolecular Mechanism of Antimicrobial Excipient-Induced Aggregation in Parenteral Formulations of Peptide Therapeutics
Li M et al. · Molecular pharmaceutics · 2022 · Preclinical · Evidence for Benzyl alcohol (bacteriostatic preservative)
PMID 35917158 — View on PubMedComplex poisoning mainly with benzyl alcohol complicated by paralytic ileus: a case report
Fukuda H et al. · International journal of emergency medicine · 2022 · Observational · Evidence for Benzyl alcohol (bacteriostatic preservative)
PMID 35787785 — View on PubMedIncompatibility of ifosfamide with benzyl-alcohol-preserved bacteriostatic water for injection
Behme RJ et al. · American journal of hospital pharmacy · 1988 · Preclinical · Evidence for Benzyl alcohol (bacteriostatic preservative)
PMID 3369469 — View on PubMed