Medicines are one of the things we always like to have on hand, especially painkillers. That is why we carry them in handbags, backpacks and pockets, we carry them in the car. Pharmacists and doctors warn: high temperatures and strong sun are the worst conditions for drugs that change their effect under their influence. I checked what it really is like by conducting a peculiar experiment.
- I wanted to see what happened to the pill when exposed to the sun, so I put it on the windowsill
- The experiment lasted exactly a month, but after only three days you could see that the tablet had lost its gloss, faded, started to melt and changed the smell.
- I asked the pharmacist to explain the whole phenomenon
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage
What was my experiment?
A month ago, I left a pain reliever and fever-lowering drug commercially available in a glass vessel on the windowsill. I acted against the recommendations in the leaflet, because it should not be stored at a temperature exceeding 30 degrees Celsius. At least on some days it was exposed to higher temperatures and harsh sun. You can convince yourself of what happened.
The experiment lasted exactly one month, but after three days it was obvious that the tablet had lost its gloss, was fading, and was starting to melt.
After two weeks, there was also a specific sour smell. After a month, she turned yellow. It became partially slime on which bubbles appeared. In a word, it began to dissolve. The smell has become more intense. I was curious what kind of chemical reaction I am dealing with here exactly.
The pharmacist explains – drugs have their enemies
Dr. n. Farm. Leszek Borkowski, former president of the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products explains that this particular drug is “such a chemical marriage of salicylic acid and acetic acid”.
– We speak professionally about the fact that they form an ester. All esters are quite unstable. This is their beauty – explained the expert.
The expert explained that this “marriage” has a chance of survival, but only under certain conditions. Certainly not what I created for them. But let’s start from the beginning.
«First, the tablet must be packed without moisture, for example in a nitrogen atmosphere. Nitrogen is inert. But if only a hole is made in the packaging, nitrogen escapes in the negative pressure, and air enters, and there is already water there »- said Dr. Borkowski.
In addition, he noted that temperature is as much an enemy to chemicals as moisture.
«Even if the packaging is airtight, it heats up. Of course, there is a question of time after which the marriage breaks, i.e. divorces. If this happens, salicylic acid and acetic acid are released. And it is already after the drug »- said the pharmacist.
Here, too, there may be a point that the excipients that are added to the drugs to make them tablets, withstand the pressure of the punches as they are made, also protect, but only up to a point. Everything we heat up for a while reacts to temperature.
– Therefore, each drug must be stored in its original packaging, at room temperature – concluded the expert.
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