One of the most important jobs a pharmaceutical industry has is maintaining a certain amount of trust and reliability. Delivering medicinal products that can last longer is one way to help patients who rely on these products. It is where a pharmaceutical desiccant comes into play.

A perishable item, medicine, and pills are subject to contamination from their environments faster than other products. These drugs are useless after losing their purpose and pose a health risk to unsuspecting patients who consume them.

Desiccants help the medicinal products to withstand such contamination due to moisture. It enables them to last longer and maintains the quality of use.

How They Work:

Desiccants absorb moisture in an environment. When humidity or humidity comes in contact with perishable pills, the rate of contamination increases exponentially. It causes the life of medicine to decrease and reduce the shelf life of drugs.

A medicinal product can cause monetary loss and product loss since the contaminated pills are useless. They also bring loss to the consumers and make them lose trust in medicine manufacturing companies.

When desiccants are open in the package, the silica gel and activated carbon present in the desiccant remove the moisture. The rate of humidity gets significantly reduced in the pack and thus improves the quality of the medicines.

What Are Desiccants?

• Silica Gel: Silica gel constitutes a core component of desiccants due to its property of moisture absorption. An amorphous compound, silica gel is the porous form of the silicon dioxide compound.

When placed in a moisture-filled environment, with a strong absorption tendency for water, silica gel absorbs moisture and gets hard to reach its saturation limit.

• Activated Carbon: Also used in the desiccants due to their high water content retention. It is commonly known as activated charcoal and consists of small pores on its surface. These pores increase the surface area for adsorption and hence used for moisture retention.
• Other Compounds: Clay and molecular sieves may be used along with odor-reducing compounds for higher quality packaging. They act as extra measures to protect the medicines from contamination.

Factors Affecting Contamination Of Medicines:

• Nature of product: Some medicinal products may last longer than others in a challenging environment. Certain products may show a quicker contamination rate compared to other medicines. It all depends upon the chemical constituents present in the medication.
• External environment: The external environment also plays a role in the contamination of these perishables. An environment with higher relative humidity can cause faster contamination than a drier climate.
• Improper Packaging: Proper packaging measures seal the medicines and make the environment as close as possible. A slight leak can cause particulates and contaminants to enter the medication and reduce its shelf life.

Advantages Of Pharmaceutical Desiccants:

• Cost-Effective: Desiccants are the most cost-effective way to ensure that the drugs stay dry and safe from moisture. The lack of water reduces the chances of contamination and improves the life of medicines. Desiccants work more effectively than dry gas circulation and tight seals. Hence, for the same price, they are more effective compared to their counterparts.
• Odour Control: Special compounds present in the desiccants help control the odor present in the closed environment. The desiccants remove foul odors.
• Rate of Adsorption: The presence of silica and activated carbon reduces the rate of absorption of moisture from the environment. As such, it acts more effectively compared to the traditional means of dehumidifying the environment.
• Improved Quality Of Medicines: Desiccants help improve these medicines’ shelf life, allowing them to last longer in a challenging environment.

It dramatically helps during times of delay in delivery that will otherwise render the perishables useless. As such, desiccants help keep medicines fresh and keep their quality for a more extended period.

• Safe: Desiccants do not contain any harmful compounds that can leak into the medicines and cause problems. They are safe to store and use, and as such, they are much more reliable. They may not be suitable for reuse as the desiccants limit their capacity for moisture adsorption.

Desiccants in pharmaceutical use are very common in many industries across the country. Having the ability to reduce the majority of moisture and contamination, they are strong enough to withstand higher pressure conditions.

They can also resist many procedures such as sterilization and irradiation and are sufficiently porous to eliminate dust in the environment. When properly tested and maintained, pharmaceutical desiccants can help innovate the different ways many pharmaceutical industries store medicines and perishables.