LyondellBasell Industries has launched Purell PE 3420F, a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) for pharmaceutical packaging.
With a density of 0.933 g/cm3, the company says compared with standard LDPE, Purell PE 3420F has higher sterilisation temperature resistance and provides significant wall-thickness reduction, which allows customers using blow-fill-seal (BFS) technology to make cost savings, particularly for products such as infusion bottles.
If sterilisation is needed, some regulations require infusion solutions to be sterilised at 121°C for 15 minutes, even when filled under aseptic BFS processing conditions. However, LDPE typically cannot be sterilised at this temperature because its melting point is lower than 121°C. Regulatory authorities accept lower sterilisation temperatures if the treatment time is increased in parallel (equivalence method). Sterilisation time for a standard LDPE used in this process ranges from 130-195min; using Purell PE3420F this is reduced to 30-50min.
"If the sterilisation process is a rate-limiting step in production, Purell PE 3420F resins can address this challenge for customers by providing shorter sterilisation times and reduced associated costs through the use of higher temperatures," says Patrik Schneider, LyondellBasell's manager for technical service and application development for healthcare applications.
Other benefits include the potential for wall thickness reduction while maintaining a high water vapour barrier. Shelf life can be extended while maintaining wall thickness at previous levels.
The company says high melt flow leads to excellent processing and design versatility.
Purell PE 3420F can be used for intravenous bottle production due to its intrinsically high purity; it is produced without additives and thus has a very low leachables/extractables profile.