Editing Syringe (section)

===Laboratory applications===
[[Image:Laboratory grease 1.jpg|thumb|Laboratory grease, commonly used to lubricate [[ground glass joint]]s and [[stopcock]]s, is sometimes loaded in syringes for easy application.]]
[[File:Wärmeleitpaste Thermal Compound.jpg|thumb|Some chemical compounds, such as [[thermal paste]] and various glues, e.g. [[epoxy]], are sold in prepackaged syringes.]]

[[Medical-grade]] disposable hypodermic syringes are often used in research laboratories for convenience and low cost. Another application is to use the needle tip to add liquids to very confined spaces, such as washing out some scientific apparatus. They are often used for measuring and transferring solvents and reagents where a high precision is not required.  Alternatively, microliter syringes can be used to measure and dose chemicals very precisely by using a small diameter capillary as the syringe barrel.

The [[polyethylene]] construction of these disposable syringes usually makes them rather chemically resistant. There is, however, a risk of the contents of the syringes leaching plasticizers from the syringe material. Non-disposable glass syringes may be preferred where this is a problem. Glass syringes may also be preferred where a very high degree of precision is important (i.e. [[Quantitative analysis (chemistry)|quantitative chemical analysis]]), because their [[tolerance (engineering)|engineering tolerances]] are lower and the plungers move more smoothly. In these applications, the transfer of [[pathogens]] is usually not an issue.

Used with a long needle or [[cannula]], syringes are also useful for transferring fluids through rubber [[septum|septa]] when atmospheric [[oxygen]] or [[moisture]] are being excluded. Examples include the transfer of air-sensitive or [[pyrophoric]] reagents such as [[phenylmagnesium bromide]] and [[N-Butyllithium|''n''-butyllithium]] respectively. Glass syringes are also used to inject small samples for [[gas chromatography]] (1 μl) and [[mass spectrometry]] (10 μl). Syringe drivers may be used with the syringe as well.