What Makes Homebrew Vials Sterile?

In planning stages

Summary

Critical analysis of most homebrew methods reveals a distinct lack of understanding of modern sterilization practices. Are DIY patients who consume these vials avoiding infection because their bodies are fighting it off? Or perhaps the low-effort sterilization methods being employed are actually doing something? Maybe some people are picking up infections? It’s hard to know!

We want to design an experiment that replicates common homebrew methods and then analyzes the resulting product to determine sterility. Further, taking samples in 24 hour increments to determine if the preservatives in vials result in sterility over time as demonstrated in numerous studies (#TODO, link. on PubMed).

While this experiment will fall short of a study performed by trained scientists using a properly equipped lab, the results should be able to point us in a valid direction.

Importance

Thousands of trans people are injecting homemade HRT every single week. The vast percentage of the vials people use have received no quality control and very likely did not undergo adequate sterilization procedures. We have no data available within our community telling us how sterile these vials are and thereby how safe they are to inject.

If the data shows that, despite common guidelines, these vials are appearing to be sterile, then we can extrapolate that data, create further experiments, and potentially write guidelines on how to homebrew that use this data to make DIY more accessible.

If, on the other hand, the data shows that the vials are not sterile, we can use this information to help urge people to purchase their DIY from more reputable sellers. We may even be able to encourage the sellers to take on better homebrew practices.

Methods

Group A - Boil for 30 minutes. Group B - Autoclave for 30 minutes. Group C - Flask in oven @ 230°C for 30 minutes (fire risk) Group D - Syringe filter Group E - HRT Cat method