Author Archives: Extractables and Leachables Subcommittee of the Bio-Process Systems Alliance

Toward Industry Standardization of Extractables Testing for Single-Use Systems: A Collective BPSA Perspective

Here we present a consensus position of the membership of the Bio-Process Systems Alliance (BPSA), the trade organization for the single-use industry based in Washington, DC. BPSA’s membership includes 48 corporate and institutional entities, among them component suppliers, systems integrators, end users, and independent testing laboratories. Consensus within this membership is reached through an official ballot of representative voting members, as provided for in the organization’s by-laws. The position outlined below was approved by such an internal consensus-balloting process. Building…

Recommendations for Extractables and Leachables Testing

Figure 1: SARTORIUS STEDIM BIOTECH (WWW.SARTORIUS-STEDIM.COM) Determination of extractables and leachables for disposable manufacturing systems must be addressed as part of process validation when single-use technology is used. The idea that compounds leach into pharmaceutical formulations or process fluids (e.g., buffer solutions and bulk storage) from processing and storage materials is not new or even unique to plastics. All materials have extractables and potential leachables. When properly evaluated, these are easily addressed and rarely lead to disqualification of a disposable…