Commercial pharmaceutical glass containers as probes for the post-sterilization dosimetry of liquid drugs

Drug sterilization with ionizing radiation is a well-established technology, which is gaining ground the last decades since it allows the adequate sterilization of heat-sensitive pharmaceutical preparations. In a previous study (Kazakis et al., 2015a), the possibility to identify irradiated liquid-state drugs by means of TL measurements on their glass containers was explored with very promising findings. The present work constitutes a continuation and extension of the previous work, employing additional TL measurements, along with new OSL measurements, on the same glass containers of two widely used liquid drugs, (Hexalen^® and Voltaren^®), for beta-doses up to 30 kGy, while an investigation of the presence of very deep traps (VDT), i.e., traps with their peak maximum temperature beyond the 500 °C, also took place. Results indicate that dose estimation, after the ionizing sterilization of a liquid drug, using the glass containers is possible in many ways. Both direct OSL and TL dose response can be fitted with a linear function for doses up to 6 kGy and 14 kGy for Hexalen and Voltaren respectively. For higher doses, up to 30 kGy, the intensity continues to increase, though in a lower rate, and the response can be fitted with a linear function as well, indicating that no saturation is reached. Presence of VDT is evident in both glasses with their thermally assisted OSL (TA-OSL) and subsequent photo-transferred residual TL (RTL) dose response exhibiting linear behavior in two distinctive dose areas. In any case, no saturation of the VDT is observed for doses up to 25 kGy. The above is very important, since it would allow the estimation of the sterilization dose even if the glass container has been exposed to light or heated to temperatures up to 500 °C. Thus, all findings are very promising and support the idea of using the glass containers of commercial liquid drugs as probes for the post-sterilization dosimetry of these drugs and for normal and/or accidental dosimetry. - Highlights: • TL and OSL of glass containers of liquid drugs are explored towards the post-sterilization dosimetry. • OSL and TL dose response can be fitted with linear functions for doses up to 30 kGy. • Presence of VDT is evident in both glass containers studied with linear responses for doses up to 30 kGy. • No saturation of the traps involved (even the VDT) is observed for doses up to 25 kGy. • Estimation of the sterilization dose in liquid drugs seems feasible with TL or OSL of the containers.