Influence of drug packaging materials on drug quality

With the development of science and technology, the level of medicine has also been improved, helping people overcome more diseases and increasing people's average lifespan. However, when drugs treat diseases, there are certain side effects, which will have a certain impact on the human body. Usually these effects are not obvious, but when the selection of drug packaging materials is wrong, the efficacy of the drug will be affected, the treatment effect on the patient is not obvious enough, and the side effects may also be amplified. Therefore, when choosing drug packaging materials, strict review should be made to ensure the safety of drug storage. Based on this, the article analyzes the impact of different packaging materials on drug quality and safety, explains the principles for the selection and use of relevant materials, and puts forward relevant regulatory opinions.

1. Status quo of the use of pharmaceutical packaging materials

Pharmaceutical packaging materials refer to the outer packaging materials and pharmaceutical filling materials used to protect and store and directly contact drugs. They are called pharmaceutical packaging materials, and in layman's terms are the materials used to make drug storage containers. The main function of pharmaceutical packaging is to protect the drug from the environment, preserve its drug effect, and ensure that it can be preserved completely during transportation and sale. Generally speaking, packaging materials are divided into 3 categories:

(1) The packaging closest to the drug; (2) The packaging materials that can be in close contact with the medicinal materials, but can be recycled and reused, but need to be strictly cleaned before they can be used again; (3) Can be in direct contact with the drug, but it will have a certain impact on the quality of the drug and affect the play of the efficacy of the drug. Category 3 medicinal material packaging materials will not only reduce the therapeutic effect of the drug, but also produce some substances harmful to the human body, causing human body dysfunction. Therefore, more attention must be paid to the management of pharmaceutical packaging materials, and pharmaceutical companies are strictly required to strengthen supervision.

At present, the drug packaging management plan has gradually matured, and the control of drug quality has gradually become the focus of social attention. The strict law enforcement during the supervision of relevant departments ensures the packaging quality of drugs, and the use of packaging materials has gradually shown diversified development. Glass, plastic, metal, etc. have all become common materials in drug packaging. Among these materials, glass materials have strong protection ability for medicines, can preserve medicines for a long time, and make the efficacy of medicines not damaged for a long time, but they are vulnerable to damage during transportation., inconvenience to carry and use is also a shortcoming that cannot be ignored. Plastic materials are more convenient to transport during use, and can be used to synthesize many new materials, and the use cost is low, but their protection effect on medicines is poor. During the use of metal materials, they can better protect medicines and prevent medicines from being damaged and deteriorated by moisture. The aesthetics and convenience of their packaging are also the types that people prefer, but their use costs are relatively high. The advantages and disadvantages of different materials are relatively clear. With the continuous development of science and technology, alternative materials for original materials have also been gradually developed, which has significantly improved the protection ability of medicines. However, for the selection of materials, we cannot blindly pursue new technologies. Only by determining the properties of related drugs can we better protect the stability of drug efficacy and ensure its therapeutic effect on human diseases [1].

2. The influence of pharmaceutical packaging materials on the quality of medicines

Drugs circulating in the market have different packaging methods, and there are certain potential safety hazards when packaging drugs. The main reason for the hidden dangers is that there is no strict material screening combined with scientific production methods in the manufacturing process, or the manufacturer selects cheaper materials in pursuit of high profits, without considering that unqualified packaging materials may affect the quality of medicines.

2.1 Material characteristics of glass containers and their impact on drug quality

Glass materials are more common materials in daily life. More medicines are stored in glass containers, and the color and style of glass containers are also changeable, and the overall aesthetics are good. In addition, the sealing performance of glass containers is strong, which can store medicinal materials more stably, prevent medicines from being polluted, and protect the activity of some easily decomposed substances. Isolating medicines from the air can prevent the occurrence of oxidation reactions, so as to prevent medicines from deteriorating and producing substances that damage human health. Therefore, the packaging of glass materials is loved by the majority of manufacturers and earns greater profits for merchants. The disadvantage of glass material is that it is not strong enough, and a slight bump will cause it to break. When transporting and selling medicines, it is necessary to add more protective measures around them and place them in a safer environment to ensure their safety. In addition, glass materials cannot withstand pressure, and if there is a certain amount of extrusion, the glass will also be damaged. If the glass material is broken, the resulting residue will harm the user. Therefore, when choosing glass materials, it is necessary to make careful choices according to the use of medicines. A large number of experiments have found that some medicines are easy to react with glass materials, producing unknown substances, which will affect human health. For example, if insulin is placed in a glass instrument, insulin can chemically react with silica, boron oxide and other substances in the glass, resulting in its failure. In addition, there are also clear regulations in my country's Pharmacopoeia, indicating that certain substances cannot be stored using glass materials [2].

2.2 The characteristics of rubber materials and their influence on the quality of medicines

With the gradual maturity of rubber use technology, rubber materials have become one of the important materials for drug packaging. When using glass bottles for drug preservation, rubber stoppers are generally used for bottle mouth sealing. General rubber materials can be roughly summarized into two categories: natural rubber and butyl rubber. There are also certain differences in the role of different rubbers. Relevant experiments have shown that for corrosive drugs, natural rubber can play a small protective role, and will quickly react with the drug, resulting in damage to the bottle mouth seal. Butyl rubber, on the other hand, does not react quickly and has relatively stable properties. However, its configuration method is more complex and the probability of success is low. If there is a problem with the production method, there will be more impurities in the finished rubber product. These impurities will react with the ingredients in the drug, which will reduce the efficacy.

2.3 Characteristics of plastic materials and their impact on drug quality

Plastic material is the most common packaging material on the market. For manufacturers, it has the characteristics of relatively low cost and wide range of use, which can save a lot of money and seek more economic benefits for it. Therefore, more manufacturers will use plastic materials for drug packaging. In addition, plastic can be loaded more conveniently during transportation, and there is no need to worry about damage during transportation. Its sealing properties can also ensure that medicines are not affected by air, so that the use effect of medicines can be maximized. At the same time, its lightweight packaging can also meet people's needs for travel. The materials used in the production process of plastic materials mainly include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and other three materials. The use of these materials may cause harm to some medicines, accelerate the deterioration of medicines, and produce substances that endanger the human body. Therefore, when using plastic materials, it is necessary to conduct sufficient research on pharmaceutical ingredients and plastic components to find the most suitable packaging materials.

2.4 Characteristics of metal materials and their impact on drug quality

There are many types of metal materials, among which aluminum is the most common one, and is most commonly used in pharmaceutical packaging materials. Aluminum has a long service life, is not easily affected by air, and rusts, so it is often selected as a pharmaceutical packaging material. The better ductility and plasticity of aluminum products bring more possibilities for its shape and can bring better economic benefits. Other types of metal materials, when packaging medicines, will react with medicines to a certain extent, producing more impurities, which will have adverse effects on people who use medicines and lead to a decline in human health [3].

3. Measures to strengthen the safety performance of pharmaceutical packaging materials

Although the society has attached great importance to the supervision of drug quality, and the supervision technology has also been improved to a certain extent, the quality problems of drugs still exist, and the problems related to packaging are no longer rare. In order to pursue economic benefits, some merchants beautify the packaging of drugs and rely on gorgeous appearance to increase sales. However, actual research has found that when using certain materials for packaging, the use parameters are fixed and cannot be changed arbitrarily. If there is a deviation, the use effect of drugs will decrease. Therefore, when producing drugs, it is necessary to strictly follow the provisions of the Pharmacopoeia to find the most suitable packaging method to provide guarantee for the development of the pharmaceutical industry.

3.1 Pay attention to material safety

Drug packaging supervision should start with packaging materials. When selecting materials, it is necessary to choose materials with high safety. The most important thing is to choose according to the actual situation of the drug, and it is also necessary to consider the environment of the production workshop to avoid the impact of the surrounding environment on the drug. For example, for substances prone to oxidation reactions, it is necessary to carry out packaging operations in a closed space to reduce pollution caused by air flow. The safety of materials is also reflected in their own non-toxic and stable structural properties, so it is necessary to ensure that packaging materials do not react with drugs [4].

3.2 Carry out comprehensive performance analysis

Each drug is unique and has different therapeutic effects for different diseases, so it is also necessary to conduct strict analysis according to its performance when packaging. Packaging personnel need to accurately understand the nature of packaging materials and the effects and characteristics of drugs, and through comprehensive analysis, they can determine a scientific and reasonable packaging method. In addition, when packaging, attention should also be paid to the hygiene problems of the production line. If the pollution of the materials used is serious and not clean enough, the drugs will also be polluted.

Conclusion

Drugs generally use different packaging in the production process, and the materials used in some drug packaging will affect the use effect of drugs, and even endanger human health in serious cases. After a large number of market investigations, it was found that the actual quality and safety supervision of drugs is not strict, and the drug packaging materials do not meet the strict national regulations. Therefore, drug administrators should strengthen the review and management of drug packaging materials to ensure the safety of drug packaging materials to avoid harm to the human body. The entire drug packaging market needs to be healthier and more stable, and illegal activities that make improper profits through drug packaging should be cracked down.