Packaging is an indispensable part of medicines. Only by choosing appropriate packaging materials and packaging methods can we truly and effectively ensure the quality of medicines and the drug safety of the general public. Drug inner packaging refers to the packaging materials and containers that are in direct contact with drugs used by drug manufacturers and preparations prepared by medical institutions. The inner packaging should be able to ensure the quality of the drug during production, transportation, storage and use, and be convenient for clinical use.
Aluminum is the most commonly used metal. Aluminum materials do not rust, their oxides are non-toxic, have good light-shielding properties, have excellent moisture and gas barrier properties, good processability, no resilience, high thermal conductivity, and good ductility, air tightness, and fully protective of drugs.
What’s the advantages of aluminum tube packaging for pharmaceuticals?
As a pharmaceutical packaging, aluminum has the characteristics of effectiveness, safety, stability (physical aspects, chemical aspects, microbiological aspects), uniformity, airtightness, and no pollution. It has the ability to undergo complete chemical cross-linking reaction during internal spraying to form a three-dimensional network display. The microstructured inert-coated aluminum packaging does not react with the packaged drugs, does not absorb drugs, and does not change the properties of the drugs.
In addition, aluminum packaging also has a certain degree of strength, heat and cold resistance, light weight, light-shielding, easy to clean, and easy to sterilize and disinfect. Therefore, aluminum tubes are used for packaging medicinal ointments, creams, and gels. They are an attractive container. They are easy to control the dosage, have good re-sealing characteristics, and have sufficient protection for the product. , the risk of contamination of the ointment inside the internally sprayed aluminum tube is also minimal. Aluminum tubes also have functions such as ease of use, storage, transportation, environmental protection, durability, beauty, and easy identification.
In addition, it has the characteristics of simple manufacturing process and not easy to break, making it very suitable for modern high-speed automated filling operations. The packaging form of aluminum tubes can adapt to various harsh circulation conditions, including climate, transportation methods, circulation objects and circulation cycles, etc. It can fully adapt to various extreme temperatures, humidity, and temperature differences in the circulation area, and has sufficient resistance: vibration resistance and drop resistance.
The U.S. FDA has stipulated that the packaging of drugs must maintain the uniformity, efficacy, quality, and purity standards of the drug during the specified shelf life. The use of high-quality aluminum tubes of Anreal Packaging has been proven to fully meet the above requirements through 24 months and ongoing tests.
What’s the comparative advantages of aluminum tube packaging toward plastic tubes for pharmaceuticals?
Plastic is a synthetic high molecular polymer that is lightweight, impact-resistant, tough and not easily broken. However, plastics have poor air permeability, moisture permeability, heat resistance, chemical stability, physical stability, etc. In addition, plastic components contain some additives such as stabilizers, plasticizers, antioxidants, lubricants, and fillers. etc. These additives, such as anti-aging toxic organotin and organic lead, may migrate into the drug solution, and the drugs in the solution can also be adsorbed by plastics, thus affecting the stability of the preparation and the effectiveness of the drug. Therefore, plastic containers should not be used for a long time, especially drugs with unstable chemical properties. If necessary, physical, chemical, biological toxicity and other experiments must be carried out before using plastic containers to ensure their safety. Compared with plastic hoses, the outstanding advantage of aluminum tube is that there is no back-sucking phenomenon, which can avoid the air-sucking back causing the paste to deteriorate due to contact with the air, thereby affecting the quality and efficacy of the paste. Its barrier properties and light-shielding properties are also significantly better than those of plastic tubes. And aluminum tubes with internal spraying have less impact on the stability of the medicine inside and the effectiveness of the medicine than plastic tubes.
What’s the comparative advantages of aluminum tube packaging toward laminate tubes for pharmaceuticals?
Compared with composite tubes, aluminum tubes have the outstanding advantage of excellent air tightness. Because the aluminum material is dense and the aluminum tube is formed by extrusion of a single material at one time, there is absolutely no possibility of leakage at the welded joints of different materials in the composite tubes. On the other hand, the manufacturing process of composite tubes is complex, with longitudinal welds for tube body welding, and injection joints of two different materials for the body and shoulder. Due to the unstable process, it is difficult to reliably guarantee the air-tightness of each individual product in mass production. . Moreover, composite tubes also have a “rebound” phenomenon, which causes a large amount of unpurified external air to enter the pipe and directly contact the drugs, which inevitably leads to the possibility of secondary contamination that is taboo for drugs. In addition, composite tubes cannot be sterilized at high temperatures of nearly 500°C during the production process. In particular, there are still considerable difficulties in its recycling and reuse. It is difficult to degrade when discarded in nature and does not meet the requirements of green environmental protection. This is a fatal shortcoming that restricts its further development.
Therefore, the “Tenth Five-Year Plan” development plan outline for the pharmaceutical packaging industry clearly stipulates that “the packaging of ointment preparations must completely eliminate lead-tin tubes and low-quality plastic tubes, and develop aluminum tubes with internal spraying.”
If human society wants to survive, it must quickly change the traditional production method that consumes a lot of natural resources and damages the environment. As the voice of green environmental protection becomes stronger and stronger, the recycling of packaging materials becomes more and more important and will become more eye-catching. A great advantage of aluminum is that it is very easy to recycle, and the energy required to remelt scrap aluminum to produce recycled aluminum ingots is only 5% of the energy required to convert alumina into primary aluminum ingots.
In summary, aluminum tubes has its unique advantages and strong vitality. It will be the mainstream choice for medicinal ointment packaging in the future. It also meets the requirements of ISO14000: improving the environment and protecting the environment, and promoting sustainable economic development.
