What is in the vial
What is in itSterile water with 0.9% benzyl alcohol (9 mg/mL) as the antimicrobial preservative
Presentation30 mL plastic multiple-dose vial
Prescription statusRx only
What it is forDiluting or dissolving a drug for injection, as that drug's manufacturer directs. Not for injection on its own.
Who must not have itNewborns and premature infants
Storage20°C to 25°C (68°F to 77°F). The label gives no separate period after first puncture.
After first punctureThe label sets no period; CDC's default for a punctured multidose vial is 28 days unless the manufacturer states another date.
Source: Hospira Bacteriostatic Water for Injection label, revised 2019-08.
Four liquids that look alike
Same clear liquid, same kind of vial, different contents. No swap chart here, on purpose: which one your medication uses is written on its label, and the passport reads it out.
Bacteriostatic Water for Injection
- Preservative: 0.9% benzyl alcohol
- No salt
- Multiple-dose container
Sterile Water for Injection
- No preservative
- No salt
- Single-dose container
Sodium Chloride Injection 0.9%
- No preservative
- 9 mg/mL sodium chloride
- Single-dose container
Bacteriostatic Sodium Chloride Injection 0.9%
- Preservative: 0.9% benzyl alcohol
- 9 mg/mL sodium chloride
- Multiple-dose container
Getting it legitimately
Prescription onlyThe approved product is Rx only. A pharmacy dispenses it against a prescription, or it arrives inside an approved medication kit.
How to recognise a real pharmacyIt asks for a prescription, gives a US address and phone number, has a pharmacist you can reach, and holds a state board licence. That is FDA's BeSafeRx checklist.
Water sold without a prescriptionIs not labelled for people, whatever the listing says. Similar ingredients do not make it an approved injectable or place it in the legitimate supply.
What FDA has saidWarning letters from 2024 to 2026 named kits that bundled unapproved injectables with bacteriostatic water, and sellers whose water was itself an unapproved drug.
Sources: FDA BeSafeRx, FDA warning letters of 12 September 2024, 26 February 2025, 31 March 2026 and 24 August 2026. Research cutoff 2026-09-05.
Five handling rules
New needle and syringefor every entry into any vial
Clean areaaway from contamination
One personone vial, whenever possible
Date the vialthe day it is first punctured
Cloudy or particlesmeans discard, whatever the date
From CDC injection safety guidance. A preservative slows bacterial growth; it does not sterilise a contaminated vial and does nothing against viruses.