Pakaging Flashcards
Primary secondary and tertiary packaging
Primary= contains product
Secondary= cardboard box holding bottle
Tertiary= shipping transport boxes
Container and closure
Closure by heat or pressure sealing
(Child resistant, ringed for easy open…)
Characteristics of closure
Child resistant, senior friendly
Tamper resistant = difficult to tamper with
Tamper evident= obvious if someone has tampered with it)
Advantages and disadvantages of blister packs
Adv:
Able to tell if patient has already taken a tablet
Protected until open to take the tablet
Convenient
Disadvantage:
Harder to recycle
Vial monitoring sticker
Changes colour depending on temp/heat exposure and the duration it’s been out the fridge.
Glass as a packaging material
Relatively unreactive and inert
Does not allow gas transmission
Easy to clean
Transparent
Steam sterilised
Fragile
Heavy weight
Plastic as a packaging material
Widely used as bottles, tubes, pouches, blister packs, bags
Lighter than glass
Resists breakages
Lower cost
Flexible
Clear or opaque
Easily shaped or sealed= versatile
Permeable to water vapour, co2, o2
Allow light transmission
Leaching of chemicals
Poor impact resistance
Many plastics soften/melt if thermally sterilised
Disposal is hard
Process residues
During polymer synthesis, solvents, catalysts, initiators, accelerators are needed to assist
Metal packaging material
Used as cans, tubes, pouches, blister packs
Can be hard or soft
Collapsible metal tubes= to squeeze the product out
Mechanically strong
Can withstand high internal pressure in aerosol containers
Shatterproof
Lightweight
Impermeable to gases and light
Malleable
Can interact with pharmaceutical product so usually coated in plastic
Paper packaging material
Diverse applications= labels, leaflets, bags
Cheap
Readily torn or cut open
Rigid and strong in cartons
Easily printed and coated
No barrier properties against moisture, gases, odours
Moisture sensitive
Not transparent
Laminates packaging material
Made by bonding together two or more piles of different materials
Minimum amount of material is used and is cost effective
Rubber as a packaging material
Elastic
Not totally inert
What can degrade a product
Heat
Light
Oxygen
Carbon dioxide= can form carbonic acid
Moisture= hydrolysis
Substances that can remove degradation
Desiccants
Oxygen absorbers
Repackaging
Transfer medicines from their original pack into different packs = dossette boxes
For tablets and capsules or methadone
