The aim of this work was to study the effect of electron beam radio-sterilization on cyclo olefins copolymers (COC) used as pharmaceutical storage materials, as well as to investigate its impact on the interaction with pharmaceuticals formulations. Due to the analytical methodology used which dealt with different techniques of characterization such as size exclusion chromatography, reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy and contact angle measurements, we have been able to put into evidence different kinds of modifications both in the bulk and on the surface of the sterilized material and also after ageing.The principal modification of material’s bulk, observed at the recommended dose for sterilization (25 kGy), was polymer chains scissions, accompanied with creation of low molecular weight compounds, that are potentials migrants that risk to affect the safe use of COC. Indeed, some of these compounds have been found with a relatively important concentration in the solutions where sterilized COC was stored, especially in aqueous solutions. However, the preliminary study of toxicity has shown the absence of cytotoxicity of the extractables obtained at the sterilization dose.Surface modifications of radio-sterilized COC are of two types: a physical one, with an increase of the surface’s roughness and a chemical one with the formation of polar oxidation products; these two modifications result in an increase of surface’s wettability that may be important. However, in some cases such as for aged samples, these modifications are relatively weak even at doses higher than the one recommended for sterilization, which can explain the absence of the effect of radiation on the behavior of COC towards drug solutions. Indeed, no variation of drug sorption has been observed between aged COC irradiated and none irradiated.
