Role of humidity neutral oxygen scavengers in protecting pharmaceuticals

For any Pharmaceutical company, maintaining the desired standard quality of the pharmaceuticals from the storage to till the distribution is a challenging task. Therefore, special measures which are appropriate to avoid contamination from chemical or microbial nature which flourishes in presence of moisture and oxygen need to be observed and practiced which affect during quality control. One such measure which is practiced by Pharmaceutical companies which turned out to be effective during packaging is the interjection of humidity-neutral oxygen scavengers in the containers. These Oxygen scavengers absorb oxygen from the moisture present in the surrounding environment in a package thereby inhibiting microbial reproduction, which causes degradation of active ingredient of the medicine. Oxygen scavengers act as a means in reducing the oxygen content as well as the moisture content inside the pharmaceutical packaging and ensure the physical stability of the drugs. Not only microbial, chemical factors such as extreme levels of pH can also be controlled using these Oxygen Scavengers. Pharmaceutical Decomposition due to hydrolysis is also restricted by deploying Oxygen Absorbers.

Guest post by Drashti Dave.

Oxygen scavengers or Oxygen absorber are made or synthesized from chemicals which are non-toxic and non-editable available in the form of Oxygen Absorber Packets or Oxygen Absorber Sachets.

What is in Oxygen Absorber Sachets?

Oxygen Absorber Sachets are porous sachets which contain ferrous iron powder along with activated carbon and salt having a tendency of attracting or suspending the water molecules in between them based on the hygroscopic phenomenon and thereby absorbs the total oxygen content present in the surrounding atmosphere in a package.

How to use Oxygen Absorber packets?

Since pharmaceutical products remain in a closed package for longer periods, the moisture levels inside the package increase with a slight increase in relative humidity and temperature in the surroundings. Therefore, Oxygen absorber which is available in packets or sachets is placed in the packages containing pharmaceutical drugs do increase the rate of absorption of oxygen and prevent the ingress of oxygen. Transportation of commodities like Pharmaceutical products in bulk quantities is performed through depending mainly on sea logistics. There are many other modes of transportation, but sea logistics serve to be cost-effective unless the Containers are subjected to Container rain. Therefore these Oxygen Absorbers Sachets Place inside the containers or even inside the packages serve to be a better absorbent or dehumidifier in withstanding the extreme climatic conditions prevailing around the containers during transportation. Therefore, before shipment placing the Oxygen Absorber Sachets are placed at the bottom or side walls of the containers help in maintaining the thermal variations throughout the period of transportation and thereby contributing for the safe passage of Pharmaceutical commodities.

Ageless Oxygen Absorbers:

Since the Oxygen Absorber packets play a major role in extending the shelf life of packages they are named as Ageless by the patents as they protect the Pharmaceutical Packaging materials with low RH environments and preserve them for a longer period. They are trade named as ageless Oxygen Absorbers and are available in Sachets forms with specifications such as “oxygen absorption capacity-C” and headspace of the containers. These specifications make their deployment easy for preservations for a limited period of time.

• 100ccOxygen Absorbers: It is used for Vacuum Sealed Pharmaceutical packaging containing one package for long time preservations such as Vitamins.
• 300ccOxygen Absorbers: It is used for Vacuum Sealed Pharmaceutical packaging containing more than one package for long time preservations.
• 500ccOxygen Absorbers: It is used for Vacuum Sealed Pharmaceutical packaging containing bulk quantity for long time preservations.

All these 100ccOxygen Absorbers, 300ccOxygen Absorbers, 500ccOxygen Absorbers are specially designed to store emergency pharmaceutical products for longer periods. These are available in Mylar bags which are specially designed by BoPet (Biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate) plastic which is sandwiched between two thick aluminum Foils. The features such as-transparency, chemical-stability, insulating capacity makes it viable and is used for commercial applications such as Oxygen Absorbers packing which in turn are used for storing packed products with chemical origin. It also meets the pharmacopeia, regulatory limits. This Oxygen absorber sachet reduces the access of heat, protects the medicinal products from light, act as water-proof and regulates the oxygen transmission levels.

The growth rate usage Of Oxygen Absorbers in Healthcare and Pharmaceutical preservations globally is expected to grow, thereby increasing the production Volume. Therefore, Oxygen Absorber manufacturers in India, which supply Industrial Units pertaining to Healthcare preservations and Pharmaceutical preservations on a large scale as well as on a small scale, based on quality assurance and performance criteria are also flourishing well. Since, Oxygen Absorbers can be used for a wide variety of storage of drugs which include-Anti depressants, anti-anxiety drugs, Cannabis, Dissociative Drugs, Hallucinogens, Narcotics, Stimulants and many more, employing the best suppliers of oxygen absorbers, who are rendering their services in delivering the Absorbents according to the specifications and Dimensions meeting both Small scale as well as Large-scale requirements are of utmost importance.

The Global competitive standards of humidity-neutral oxygen scavengers to meet the Pharmaceutical applications are growing day by day because of their excellent absorption capacity of oxygen at varying RH. As the relative humidity increases the adsorption capacity of the absorbers also increases. Therefore, quality standards of oxygen absorbers cannot be compromised, since they last for longer periods along with the packages until the delivery. Before placing the order for oxygen absorber packets these guidelines are helpful in safe storage of Pharmaceuticals causing no harm to public health and the environment. The aspects to be considered are -              

• The Size of the Pharmaceutical products
• The Specifications of the product
• The Quality of the product
• The choice of deploying Oxygen absorber packets ensures protection from the storage until the delivery and usage.

Since Pharmaceutical products are mainly drugs that are chemically synthesized to cure the immunological diseases, they are also very expensive and need to be properly packaged to ensure the efficiency of the drug. Hence, these Oxygen scavengers are playing a crucial role in protecting the quality of the Pharmaceutical products and ensuring the safe delivery after manufacturing to till the usage.

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