The European offices of Japanese companies Lintec and Screen have partnered for low migration pharmaceutical packaging.

Lintec Europe and Screen Europe have identified the migration of ink and adhesives as a pressing issue in the pharmaceutical packaging industry.

To address this, Lintec has developed a labelstock claimed as having ‘ultra-low migration’ characteristics. Specifically, this provides improved safety for labels on plastic-moulded pharmaceutical packaging. Developed primarily for use on aseptic blow-fill-seal (BFS) fluid containers, vials and ampules, this labelstock is claimed to ‘significantly reduce’ the risk of product contamination through the use of an ultra-low migration adhesive.

This labelstock is compatible with the inks run on Screen’s Truepress Jet L350UV+LM inkjet press, engineered to be suitable for low migration production. They are also compliant with strict safety standards of food and pharmaceutical packaging. Also, a nitrogen purge mechanism built into the press reduces the density of oxygen to an absolute minimum to accelerate the curing process and significantly minimise the risk of ink migration.

A series of independent third-party migration tests have been run to assess the performance of the labelstock, during which a solution consisting of 50% Ethanol or 3% acetic acid was applied to the adhesive side of the material and left in a 60 degree C environment over a period of 10 days. The final test results revealed that, when Lintec’s ultra-low migration labelstock is combined with Screen’s low migration ink, the overall migration limit (OML) is of 0.6mg/100sq cm.

‘This is an outstanding result, when considering that the current EU regulation allowance for OML is 10mg/100sq cm, maximum,’ noted Soichiro Fujinaga, technical manager at Lintec Europe.

Low migration is to be a major focus for Screen at Labelexpo Europe 2019. It introduced the +LM version two years ago and has now developed an entirely new version of its Truepress Jet L350UV platform – SAI –, with a low migration model to be brought to market next year.

Mr Fujinaga continued, ‘Safety issues over the migration of ink and adhesive components throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain, as well as the potential health hazards they could pose to end users, are a cause for concern for brand owners and manufacturers. For this reason, label and packaging suppliers are facing a heightened demand to deliver solutions that ensure pharmaceutical products are protected from contamination caused by inks and adhesives that are capable of migrating through the package substrate.

‘In the highly regulated pharmaceutical industry, label and packaging manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure their products are compliant with legislation and industry guidelines. By tackling ink migration jointly with Screen, Lintec is showing its commitment to corporate responsibility and to delivering a product that provides brand owners and end users the reassurance that they need.’