Testing Solution of Oxygen Barrier Property of Aluminum Plastic Composite Packaging for Bags

VAC-V2 Gas Permeability Tester

Some ingredients contained in the drugs are liable to be oxidized, which may cause the deterioration of the drugs. That’s why the packaging materials used for drugs are required to have sufficient oxygen barrier properties.

Considering the drug safety, the packaging materials for drugs should meet specific requirements especially for the oxygen barrier property. The packaging for drugs shall have sufficient oxygen barrier property so that the drugs can be protected from oxidization effectively. The common packaging materials for drugs include plastic composite films, aluminized plastic films and aluminum plastic composite films, etc. Among all those materials, aluminum plastic composite film is featured with high barrier property meanwhile the packaging using such material usually has more pleasant appearance. However, the aluminum foil layer is liable to be folded during the process of packaging molding, drug filling, heat sealing, transporting and selling. Once the aluminum foil layer is folded, the barrier property of the composite film may be compromised and the seal performance of the packaging will be decreased adversely.

The oxygen barrier property of the packaging is one main factor that may influence the shelf life of the drugs. To be specific, if the package for drugs is of poor oxygen barrier property, the drugs may be oxidized, deteriorated and lose efficacy especially after long-term transportation and storage. Therefore, it is necessary for the drug manufacturers to strengthen the regular monitoring of the oxygen barrier property of drug packaging.

This article provides a detailed testing solution of oxygen barrier property if aluminum plastic composite packaging for powder-form drugs, which may be helpful to those medical companies that have testing requirements for oxygen barrier properties. The testing instrument we used is Labthink’s VAC-V2 Gas Permeability Tester.

The tests can be performed according to the following procedures.

Cut 3 pieces of specimens with sample cutter. The diameter of the specimen should be Φ97 mm.

Mount the 3 specimens onto 3 test cells of the testing instrument.

Set specimen name, specimen thickness, test temperature, test humidity and other parameters.

Turn on the vacuum pump. Click Start Test to start the test. The test results will be calculated and displayed automatically.