Coomassie Brilliant Blue removal/disposal from gel destain and used gel stain in an environment-friendly manner.

Toxic reagents are employed to destain Coomassie Brilliant Blue (CBB) stained gels. We tested the efficacy of various paper adsorbents in adsorbing CBB released from gels during destaining. Kimwipes were the most efficient, followed by Teri towels, multifold towels, and Whatman (numbers 1 and 3) filter papers. Three Kimwipes added during destaining of a CBB-stained mini-gel helped adsorb the released dye. Thus, stain removal with Kimwipes helps reduce destain use and organic waste accumulation, enables recycling of nonradioactive destaining solution, and is 7.5-fold cheaper than an available method for CBB disposal. Next, we used Kimwipes to deplete the dye from a used CBB staining solution awaiting proper disposal by our Institutional Safety Office. Seventy-five Kimwipes successfully helped remove the dye from a 0.05% CBB staining solution in 5 to 10 min. The blue-colored Kimwipes did not release the stain even when squeezed dry after incubation in various salts, water, or acid solutions for five weeks. The CBB removed thus can be simply disposed as solid waste and will not leach out from solid landfills. Kimwipes, thus, enables CBB disposal in an environmentally friendly manner and allows recycling of destaining solution.