title: Preliminary thermoluminescence investigation of commercial pharmaceutical glass containers towards the sterilization dosimetry of liquid drugs.
abstract: Drug sterilization with ionizing radiation is a well-established technology, which is constantly extending to several products due to its numerous advantages, since it allows the heat-free sterilization of heat-sensitive pharmaceutical preparations. In a previous study, the possibility to identify irradiated solid-state drugs by means of OSL and TL was examined with very promising findings. In the same respect, the present work aims, for the first time to the authors' best knowledge, to explore whether TL can be employed as a method for post-sterilization dosimetry on commercial liquid-state drugs, by studying the properties of their glass containers. Two different types of glass containers (bottle and ampoule) of two widely used liquid drugs, i.e., Hexalen® and Voltaren®, are used for this purpose. Both glass containers exhibit a linear TL dose response for doses up to 6kGy with a stable behavior through time, while no significant sensitization of the main peaks is observed. Thus, preliminary findings are very promising towards the post-sterilization dosimetry of liquid drugs and the use of the containers of commercial liquid drugs for normal and/or accidental dosimetry.
authors: Nuclear Physics Laboratory, Physics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece; Laboratory of Archaeometry and Physicochemical Measurements, Kimmeria University Campus, R.C. 'Athena' P.O. Box 159, 67100 Xanthi, Greece. Electronic address: nikkazak@ceti.gr.
authors: Nikolaos A
authors: NA
authors: Kazakis
authors: Laboratory of Archaeometry and Physicochemical Measurements, Kimmeria University Campus, R.C. 'Athena' P.O. Box 159, 67100 Xanthi, Greece.
authors: Nestor C
authors: NC
authors: Tsirliganis
authors: Nuclear Physics Laboratory, Physics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors: George
authors: G
authors: Kitis
mesh_terms: D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D004339:Drug Compounding / Q000379:methods*; D004349:Drug Packaging; D004355:Drug Stability; D005898:Glass; D006801:Humans; D011874:Radiometry; D013242:Sterilization / Q000379:methods*; D013819:Thermoluminescent Dosimetry / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Drugs; Glass; Hexalen; Ionizing irradiation; Sterilization; Thermoluminescence; Voltaren