title: Safety risk categorization of organic extractables associated with polymers used in packaging, delivery and manufacturing systems for parenteral drug products.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop and justify a Risk Evaluation Matrix for estimating the safety risk associated with extractables from plastic materials used in pharmaceutical applications and to apply that matrix to approximately 510 extractables to assess the risk that they would accumulate in drug products at levels sufficiently high to affect patient safety.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Risk Evaluation Matrix considers toxicological, availability and solubility characteristics of extractables. Safety Risk categories were established based on certain scaled values for these characteristics, Total Risk Scores were calculated for each extractable and the extractables were categorized with respect to their safety risk based on these calculations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Total Risk Scores were normally distributed around a value of 20 to 23, corresponding to safety risk categories of moderate and intermediate risk. The range in Risk Scores defined by the mean ± one standard deviation encompassed the entire region of moderate and intermediate risk. Approximately 15% of the extractables were categorized as lowest risk while 3% of the extractables were categorized as highest risk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Categorization of extractables could facilitate the selection of materials for use in pharmaceutical systems, the analytical testing of extracts and the selection of target extractables.
authors.affiliation: Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Technology Resources Division, 25212 West Illinois Route 120, Round Lake, Illinois, 60073, USA, dennis_jenke@baxter.com.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jenke
mesh_terms: D002626:Chemistry, Pharmaceutical; D004304:Dosage Forms; D004340:Drug Contamination; D004349:Drug Packaging; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D061214:Patient Safety; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000737:chemistry*; D010969:Plastics / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D011108:Polymers / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000032:analysis*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D004304:Dosage Forms; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D010969:Plastics; D011108:Polymers