Keeping medical environments safe, sterile, and protected from VOC exposure

Medical environments, whether that’s the development, manufacture or packing of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, must be monitored to the highest levels to ensure complete compliance and safety for staff and end-users. ION Science’s range of fixed PID sensors can measure VOC outputs on multiple large sites or single key areas, using world-leading gas detection technology.

One of the most important areas for VOC (volatile organic compounds) monitoring is sterilisation and packaging. Many medical manufacturers use ethylene oxide for decontamination of products prior to leaving the site. While this is a highly effective method, it is a harmful VOC and needs careful monitoring using tools such as PID (photoionisation detection) technology to ensure the right levels are used to remove potential contaminants, but also so that the ethylene oxide is removed safely prior to distribution.

For manufacturers that handle large volumes of products or operate across multiple sites, ethylene oxide will be used frequently and at many stages of the manufacturing cycle. This requires not only highly sensitive levels of detection to ensure that the correct levels are being adhered to at each particular stage, but also there is a requirement to have many sensors on and around the site so any potentially harmful levels are detected quickly.

The Falco fixed detector from ION Science, a leading global OEM of gas detection equipment, is ideal for medical applications thanks to its excellent VOC sensitivity, advanced PID technology and large detection range. What makes it especially suitable for medical and pharmaceutical applications is not only this technology, but also ION Science’s in-depth knowledge and experience of the sector.