What Is a CC on a Syringe?

Most standard medical syringes indicate how many ccs they contain on the side in a series of indicator lines. These lines refer to cubic centimeters, a universal standard of measurement.

The Metric System

• Unlike many other examples in modern society, the medical industry universally accepts the metric system as a standard measurement. A cubic centimeter is a measurement of volume, or capacity. It is commonly marked as cc, but is more accurately labeled cm3.

The Milliliter

• Based on the standard metric system, one milliliter, that is, one thousandth of a liter, is equivalent to one cubic centimeter of a fluid. Thus, according to the metric system, 1 cc = 1 mL.

Standard Syringe Sizes

• While syringes are available in many sizes, the most common are single cc syringes. These are most commonly depicted in the media, and often have orange plungers. They are typically used by diabetics to inject insulin and are available in drug stores. Hospitals also commonly use 2 cc and 5 cc syringes.

Doses

• Many injected medications are very concentrated, and come in tiny doses. The patient or nurse adds one or several ccs of sterile water to the medicine and mixes them before injecting the dose.

Safety Concerns

• Although the cubic centimeter has been a standardized unit for a long time, there is a lobby to discontinue using it and replace it with mL. This is because 1cc can be read as 100, leading to massive differences in dosage. Studies have shown that this discrepancy could be responsible for more than 10 percent of dose errors.