Transport Tubes Products

What are Transport Tubes?

Transport tubes are sterile, leak-proof screw-cap tubes used for collecting, transporting, and temporarily storing biological specimens from the collection site to the testing laboratory. They span a broad category: empty specimen containers (15 mL and 50 mL self-standing conical tubes), pre-filled saline transport tubes, UTM (Universal Transport Medium) tubes, and specialty specimen vials. All transport tubes share three required attributes—leak-proof construction, sterility confirmation, and compatibility with the downstream assay's matrix requirements. Choose the transport tube type based on the specimen, the target analyte, and the assay platform it will be processed on.

What you will find:

• 5 mL transport tubes for routine sample movement
• 10 mL tubes for higher volume biological samples
• Leak-tight screw-cap tubes for secure handling
• Sterile transport tubes for clinical workflows
• Graduated tubes with labeling surfaces for tracking
• Self-standing tubes for easier bench organization

How to Choose Transport Tubes

Material: Polypropylene (PP) vs. Polystyrene (PS)
PP conical transport tubes are chemical-resistant, autoclavable, and certified DNase/RNase-free in molecular-grade formats. PS transport tubes (30 mL translucent format, Globe Scientific) are lighter and less expensive but not autoclavable. For nucleic acid work, DNA/RNA-free certified PP is the standard. For specimen transport requiring centrifugation, PP is preferred due to higher g-force tolerance (PP rated to ≥10,000 × g in most formats).

Self-Standing vs. Rack Format
Self-standing (skirted-base) conical tubes stand upright without a rack, reducing knock-over risk during aliquoting and transport. Rack-based tubes require a separate holder. Globe Scientific self-standing 50 mL PP transport tubes feature a printed graduation, white frosted writing area, and are available sterile, non-sterile, or metal-free. Sterile tubes are RNase/DNase-free and pyrogen-free per the lot certificate.

Sterile vs. Non-Sterile
Sterile tubes (ISO 11137 radiation sterilization, SAL 10⁻⁶) are required for culture, NAAT, and any specimen where contamination would invalidate the result. Non-sterile metal-free PP tubes are suited to trace-element analysis and environmental sampling where sterility is not required but metal contamination would interfere.

Volume
15 mL tubes are standard for most clinical specimen aliquots, urine transfers, and culture setups. 50 mL tubes are used for higher-volume specimens (24-hour urine aliquots, stool homogenates, bulk transport of tissue homogenates). Globe Scientific 30 mL tubes with integral spoon are designed specifically for fecal specimen self-collection.

Media and Additives
Empty transport tubes (no fill) are the base format; select a pre-filled tube (saline, UTM, boric acid) based on the specimen type and analyte stability requirements. For nucleic acid targets, pre-filled tubes with DNA/RNA Shield, UTM, or saline are the appropriate formats.

Specifications Context

Globe Scientific self-standing 50 mL conical transport tubes are manufactured from USP Class VI medical-grade PP with a conical bottom skirt for freestanding stability. Printed graduation marks (1 mL intervals) and a frosted writing area are standard features. Sterile versions are individually wrapped and certified RNase-free, DNase-free, and pyrogen-free per lot certificate, consistent with ISO 9001:2015 manufacturing standards. Non-sterile metal-free versions are supplied with a separate natural screw cap and are tested for trace metals via ICP-MS before lot release. MBP's transport tubes catalog includes Globe Scientific and NEST Scientific formats in multiple pack sizes (25/bag and bulk packs of 500).

If you need help choosing tube size or matching the right transport format to your workflow, the MBP team can help you sort it out without overthinking it.