Radiation Effects on Pharmaceuticals
 Gürhan ABUHANOĞLU*, A. Yekta ÖZER *^,º
 * Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Radiopharmacy, 06100, Sıhhıye, Ankara-TURKEY

 ° Corresponding Author E-mail: ayozer@hacettepe.edu.tr

Summary

Nowadays, sterilization process is used for the benefit of humans in different areas of daily life. This includes the sterilisation of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, in particular agent and auxiliary materials, decontamination of medical equipment, and decontamination of industry, for example drug-herb and vegetable products are used in broad areas. Gamma irradiation sterilisation methods stand out, with numerous advantages. Day by day, those who use this method are applying them in more fields, and the product has gained increasingly widespread use. In fact, according to official authorities in many countries, it has been accepted as a method and has become routine since it was introduced. With regard to pharmaceutical products, gamma irradiation sterilisation has been used and records show the continuous development of the method for sterilisation. Recent studies have focused on many different pharmaceutical products, active and auxiliary substances, active ingredients in drugs, and new drug delivery systems, and discuss the effects of radiation sterilisation on the work. Especially after irradiation, which is much used in the control of analytical studies and reviews, and sterility controls over time, these methods are developing rapidly. The investigation into the use of gamma radiation continues; a new development began to attract attention: the use of e-beam irradiation sterilisation. Increased attention in the developments and studies of this subject, with focus on gamma radiation sterilisation of pharmaceuticals, will become more important in the future.

Key Words :
Sterilisation, radiation sterilisation, sterilisation of pharmaceuticals, pharmaceutical sterilisation, gamma irradiation sterilisation, E-Beam irradiation sterilisation.