Hello!

I am developing a protocol for extracting the extracellular polymeric substances from microbial biofilms using cation exchange resin (CER). Many publications exist, however I am not able to find a resource that provides complete information for some of the methodological details. Here are a couple of key questions:

1. How often does the resin need to be reactivated, and is there a way to determine if the CER needs to be reactivated?

2. Does the CER need to be activated prior to use, or is it sufficient to wash the resin beads?

3. Are there any special handling procedures required for the rinse water from a CER wash? Our labs have pretty strict waste requirements but from what I can tell the wash solution (water or PBS) should be safe to dump down the drain, assuming the pH is close to neutral.

If anyone has experience to bear on this topic please comment or send me a message! Thanks very much.

-Lee