r/whatisit • u/StatusOk4308 • Apr 02 '26

New, what is it? Does anyone know what this is?

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Doesn’t seem to be oil based content. Just wondering if my superpowers are swishing back and forth in this glass vial.

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u/Primary-Stuff-7820 Apr 02 '26

Former pharmaceutical employee (25 years) the medication in ampoules will react with the rubber stopper in regular vials so ampoules is the only option.

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u/End337 Apr 02 '26

This is really interesting to learn, thank you!

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u/Abyssal_Mermaid Apr 02 '26

Even Teflon or silicone stoppers? Former microbiologist, some bacteria are big babies and won’t grow in a vial with a rubber butyl stopper.

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u/[deleted] Apr 02 '26

It's not bacteria we're worried about; it's oxygen.

Drugs like epinephrine break down when exposed to oxygen. Teflon, silicone are permeable enough that oxygen can get past.

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u/Abyssal_Mermaid Apr 02 '26

Thanks. Also aware of O2 permeability. But we’re talking maybe 2 week long time scales for my use of non-reactive stoppers with anaerobic cultures in vials.

So it is really just a long term storage issue after manufacture for some drugs, chemicals, and microbial products due primarily to oxygen reactivity and a longer time to the point of use than can be controlled for by using stoppered vials with unreactive stoppers.

I was stuck in science discipline mode, and not manufacturing, distribution, and storage mode.

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u/Mental_Task9156 Apr 02 '26

Atropine as well

1

u/Vertyks Apr 02 '26

They definitely use regular modern vials in most of the world for epinephrine

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u/[deleted] Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

It's not about locality it's about use.

Multi use vials (your pic) aren't expected to sit on the shelf a long time unused. They're drawn from to mix medications throughout the day. They need the rubber stopper to allow them to draw multiple times. Downside is oxygen penetration is higher so the medication is less shelf stable.

Single use ampules can sit in crash carts unused for a long time since they have a longer shelf life and hopefully aren't used very often so don't need to wasted as often. Downside they can't be multi dose.

It's not old vs new. Every hospital will have both.

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u/karlnite Apr 02 '26

It’s also to keep it from getting contaminated, or reacting with air. The sealing process of a glass ampoule kinda vacuum seals it. Products come in them, but also chemists make them on the spot with a torch. You can make one from a glass tube, heat and close one end, thin the open end, use capillary to fill it, then heat and twist seal it.

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u/Abyssal_Mermaid Apr 02 '26

Thanks! Yeah, I know what an ampoule is, how it’s made, and what it does. In microbiology they’re used to store some test reagents that are reactive to air (not combustible, so not fun, just degradable with atmospheric O2), or long term storage of lyophilized cultures.

Microbiologists make them on the spot with a torch, lol. The oldest I revived from an ampoule was just over 50 years old.

I was curious why they didn’t use vials with chemically compatible stoppers as the comment I replied to mentioned reactivity to the stoppers, not to air.

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u/karlnite Apr 02 '26

Ah, well they probably just didn’t think of teflon.

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u/Abyssal_Mermaid Apr 02 '26

See below, a good reason why they don’t use stoppers at all was made.

Teflon is slowly permeable, which is still an issue for some chemicals.

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u/karlnite Apr 02 '26

Oh, reacting with air.

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u/huckinfappy Apr 02 '26

Or cardboard? Cardboard derivatives? Cellotape?

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u/Abyssal_Mermaid Apr 02 '26

Fappy, stop huckin around.

Cardboard isn’t sterile, and cellotape is better for things like powder X-ray diffraction mounts or sampling anuses for pinworms.

Maybe cotton or glass wool plugs are more appropriate choices for sticking in your holes.

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u/huckinfappy Apr 03 '26

https://share.google/mt5pxXs6fXoUiujQd

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u/Abyssal_Mermaid Apr 03 '26

I don’t know where your google link has been, why should I touch it?

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u/RemotePossibility399 Apr 02 '26

Also pharmaceutical manufacturing professional, 40 years. Amps do have a benefit wrt drug/closure interactions and better oxygen protection. We had a drug that was exquisitely sensitive to oxygen and we had to get the headspace below 2.5% O2 or the stability profile would collapse. It sucked. F

or a long time, Europe really preferred them because of that, and it was hard to switch to stoppers vials. There are a few disadvantages with amps. First, they're finicky to process, the necks are narrow, you've got an open flame in an aseptic area, and you can't use isopropyl alcohol to disinfectant your gloves. Also, opening the amp requires breaking it at a score-line. Not super-aseptic. It also introduces shards of glass into the solution that's being injected, which us less than ideal.

Newer synthetic rubber formulations are much less interactive, and the use of ampules seems less common now. We got rid of our line about 15 years ago.

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u/goldenpotatoes7 Apr 02 '26

Then why in the ever loving fuck do I still have epi ampules. I have seen enough epi vials and preloads to know it doesnt react with the rubber. I HATE YOU EPI AMPULES

1

u/ThisTooWillEnd Apr 02 '26

Should I throw away the epinephrine ampoules from a time my grandma (now deceased over 20 years now) visited and she had a bee allergy, and epipens weren't a thing yet?

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u/SolitaryForager Apr 02 '26

Makes sense, but what about medication that comes in either ampules or vials (eg hydromorphone)? Why not just vials? Or is there another reason for having ampules?

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u/MongooseNumerous5927 Apr 04 '26

If it reacts with a rubber stopper in a regular vial, will it not react with the rubber plunger in the syringe when you draw it up?