Lubricants are used to minimize the
faction between the moving surfaces of the machines. Fraction may cause the
heating of the moving parts. It also helps to minimize the load on the machine
and rust. Generally lubricants are prepared with organic and synthetic compound
those are not permitted in pharmaceuticals.
There are many moving parts in compression machine, packing machines, coating machine, colloid mill, rapid mixer granulator etc. those are required to be lubricated time to time. Leakage of lubricants is a major problem in pharmaceutical manufacturing that can cause contamination in drug products. In sterile production this lubricant may cause microbial contamination in product. There is a chance of mixing the lubricants with the products that is not acceptable by the regulatory agencies. Therefore, a suitable lubricant is required for pharmaceutical manufacturing machines. Food grade lubrication oils are used for lubrication in pharmaceuticals those are permitted by regulatory agencies. These lubricant must have ISO21469 certification and manufacturer must have National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) H1 registration for the product.
Generally synthetic food grade
pharmaceutical lubricants containing polyalhaolenin oil (PAO) or polyalkylene
(PAG) and can be used at extreme temperatures also. Silicon oils with high viscosity
are also used.
Different
Grades of Lubricants:
According to United States
Department of Agriculture (USDA), lubricants have following three categories.
A. H1 Lubricants: These are food grade lubricants and used for lubricating
the equipments where are chances of contact with food or drug products. These
lubricants must contain the ingredients listed in 21CFR part 178:3570.
B. H2 Lubricants: These are used to lubricate the parts of machines those do
not have chance of contact with product. The ingredients for these lubricants
are not listed but should not contain heavy metals like lead, cadmium and
arsenic.
C. H3 Lubricants: These are edible oils those are soluble and used in
transportation equipments like trolleys.
Following things should be verified
before using the food grade lubricants:
1. Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
for pharmaceutical lubricants should be available.
2. Chemical composition of the
pharmaceutical lubricants should be according to the 21 CFR part 178:3570.
3. Certificate of Analysis must be
available for the purchased lot.
4. Pharmaceutical lubricants should
be tested for disburden.
5. Pharmaceutical lubricants should
not be expired because it may come in contact with product.