Polymer

Primarily plastic containers are made from the following polymers such as polyethylene which provides good barrier against moisture, relatively poor one against oxygen and other gases. High density polyethylene is used giving characteristics to container such as stiffness moisture vapor transmission, stress cracking and clarity or translucency based on polymer density used. Polypropylene has features of polyethylene in addition it does not stress-crack in any condition. Hot aromatic or halogenated solvents soften the package. It has high melting point making it suitable for boilable packages and products needed to be sterilized. Brittleness at low temperature is its major disadvantages. Polyvinyl Chloride can be produced with crystal clear clarity, will provide good gaseous barrier and stiffness. Reduction in residual vinyl chloride monomers further enhances PVC quality. PVC is used as coating on glass bottles providing shatter resistant coating. Polystyrene is rigid and crystal clear plastic and is not useful for liquid products. Polystyrene has high water and gaseous permeability also these are easily stretchable and breakable. To increase their strength and quality for permeability polystyrene is combined with rubber and acrylic compounds. Base on the composition these are classified as intermediate impact, high impact and super impact packages. Nylon is extremely strong and is quite difficult to be destroyed by mechanical means. Nylon provides resistance to wide range of acids and alkali only disadvantage of it is being permeable to water vapor for some amount this can also be dealt with coating of PE over the container. Not used for long term storage of products. Polycarbonate has an ability to be sterilized repeatedly. It has immense rigidity and is a possible replacement for glass, vials and syringes. It has qualities like high dimensional stability, high impact strength, resistance to strain, low water absorption, transparency, and resistance to heat and flame. Polycarbonates have impact strength five times greater than any other common packaging plastics. Acrylic multipolymers provide for packaging of those products which are not packed in usual packages as they provide for high gas barrier, good chemical resistance, and good strength. Polyethylene terepthalate has excellent strength and provides barrier for gas and aroma making it as a useful package for cosmetics, mouth washes and other products. While there are different packaging materials approved by FDA for packaging it has to be known that FDA doesn’t approve the container but its material that is being used. A list of substances considered by FDA are published as, “Generally recognized as safe (GRAS)”. It’s responsibility of manufacturer to prove the safety of a packaging material and to get an approval from FDA. The specific FDA regulation for drugs states, “Containers, closures and other component parts of drug packages, to be suitable for their intended use, must not be reactive, additive or absorptive to an extent that identity, strength, quality or purity of the drug will be affected.” A material that is not included in GRAS can be used by manufacturer but prior to that manufacturer need to test the material and send the report to FDA for New Drug Application, NDA. Cyclic olefin copolymer is being used for tamper resistant packaging it offers an alternative to coated polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Pharmaceutical packaging material polymer manufacturers and suppliers globally can provide polymers for packaging.