Glycerine Uses in Pharmaceutical Products

Glycerine (C3H8O3, glycerol, or glycerin) has long been recognized for its range of uses in pharmacy and personal health care products. Bell Chem, USP ingredient supplier, wishes to share many of the advantages glycerine USP has within the realm of healthcare. 

A USP Ingredient

What exactly is USP and why is it important? The United States Pharmacopeia has strict guidelines on the biologics, testing, compounding, and manufacturing of all aspects of pharmaceutical products. Using tested analytical tools to deliver the highest levels of predictability across all forms of testing and manufacture, a USP-registered product is recognized as one with the highest level of certainty that the contents match the known label. 

Adding Sweetness

Glycerine USP’s sweet flavor leads to its inclusion as an excipient in many syrups and lozenges. As a matter of fact, glycerine is second only to water as a pharmaceutical excipient. 

Turning Up the Volume

The viscous, syrupy flow of glycerine USP aids in the formulation of creams, expectorants, suppositories, jellies, and gel capsules. Many cough and cold remedies add glycerine as an expectorant. Its increased volume also soothes eyes when it is an added ophthalmic ingredient. It is often used to help treat glaucoma since glycerine USP reduces and stabilizes intraocular pressure by removing excess fluid in the aqueous and vitreous humors, delivering them safely into the bloodstream. Ophthalmologists also rely on glycerine during surgical procedures. The middle ear is greatly soothed when glycerine is included in ear drops as it coats the ear canal.

Adding Pressure

Intravenous application of glycerine reduces cerebral edema as it draws water from inside the cranium. Elsewhere in the body, glycerine is the primary ingredient given in preparation of a colonoscopy as it removes water from the surrounding tissues to be eliminated. 

Aiding Skin Health

Non comedogenic glycerine gently cleanses the skin without clogging pores without the use of harsh chemicals. – a boon for those suffering from acne or other skin inflammation anomalies.

Extreme dry skin is no match to glycerine since it acts as a barrier to the epidermis, countering the removal of moisture to the environment as it draws water from the air into the skin. Many anti-aging creams contain glycerine for its ability to leave the skin softer and smoother because of this water-trapping ability.

Bell Chem is a USP ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including glycerine. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message. 

Glycerin Use Across Industries

Glycerol has long been recognized as an important ingredient in health and beauty products. However, it has dozens of other roles across industries, and scientists are striving to discover even more functions for this amazing product. Industrial ingredient supplier Bell Chem stocks 99.5% glycerin for all industries. 

Medication

To replicate the sweet flavor found in food and beverages, the pharmaceutical industry adds vegetable glycerin to cough syrup and throat lozenges. Medications with glycerin in their lists of ingredients include suppositories, cough medications, gel capsules, ear drops and eyewashes. Patients with glaucoma use ophthalmic drops containing glycerin to reduce dangerous intraocular pressure. During surgery, glycerin may be administered to reduce brain pressure. Physicians also prescribe glycerin products to patients undergoing colonoscopies or ocular surgery. 

Biodiesel

Glycerin had a darker side for a few decades as the main waste component of biodiesel. Nearly 10% of manufactured biodiesel is crude glycerin. Unlike refined glycerin used in pharmaceuticals and foods, crude glycerin was simply waste. It was too time and labor intensive to refine it, and the sheer amount of biodiesel produced created an abundance of crude glycerin. This byproduct of a growing industry perplexed scientists, and has led to countless experiments to utilize this growing reserve. Now livestock producers are using glycerol, also known as glycerin, in animal feed, so cows and other cattle benefit from its energy when glycerol is used as a feedstock for biological chemical synthesis.

Other Products

Aside from the uses listed here, glycerin has proven useful in a variety of other products including the following: 

• Glycerin is renowned for its syrupy viscosity, which is why manufacturers use it in plumping bakery products. Glycerin’s high viscosity also leads to its inclusion in liqueurs, topical creams, oral care products, and toothpaste.

• Smooth, slippery soap owes much of its texture to glycerin. Since it is also added to bubble-blowing solutions, it is safe to say glycerin helps create both large and small suds. 

• In textile manufacturing, glycerin may be used in dyeing fabric because of its viscosity, hygroscopic properties, and its ability to penetrate fabric and suspend dyes. Surprisingly, glycerin also finds a role in reducing static cling in textiles.

Future Uses

Glycerin has already proved itself in the health and beauty sector, the medical field, and more. We expect to see even more evolution of this versatile chemical as time goes on. Promising future industrial use includes the biosynthesis of citric acid from crude glycerin, possible hydrogen fuel production, and its use as an alternative to polymer petrochemicals.  

The future is promising for glycerin, and Bell Chem wants to ensure its customers have the supply of glycerin they require. Bell Chem is your industrial ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in their 50,000+ square-foot warehouse, including 99.5% glycerin. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Vegetable Glycerin

Vegetable glycerine (C3H5(OH)3) is an incredibly versatile ingredient that fills a role in almost every industry. Food ingredient supplier Bell Chem stocks this clear, sweet-tasting, odorless, and viscous liquid for industries ranging from foods and beverages to dynamite and biodiesel. 

With a name derived from the Greek word glukeros (sweet), it is no wonder vegetable glycerin is often added to items we consume. But where does this important ingredient originate? Vegetable glycerin’s main components include coconut, palm, and soybean oil. When any of these oils are heated with a strong base, such as lye, the glycerin breaks its bonds with the fatty acids forming triglycerides. Vegetable fat then mixes with water to form glycerin. And a water-soluble vegetable fat has hundreds of clever uses. Take a look at some of the industries vegetable glycerin is utilized in: 

Cosmetics
The creamy feel of lotions, makeup, and deodorants is often because vegetable glycerin is an ingredient.

Foods and Beverages
Ice cream left too long in the freezer forms ice crystals. Add glycerol while processing frozen foods and your foods will last longer. Vegetable glycerin acts as a humectant, solvent, sweetener, and thickener to canned foods, bakery goods, processed fruits, and energy bars.

Health and Wellness
Glycerin is touted as being a moisturizer for overly dry skin. It also is said to give skin more resiliency. For skin, glycerin has been proven to soothe irritation and is often applied to the skin to protect against natural elements, such as wind and bitter cold, as an aid in wound healing and discomfort, and as a barrier against topical microbial infection.

Industrial
When partnered with sulfuric acid and nitric acid, glycerin becomes nitroglycerin, the liquid portion of dynamite. On a lighter note, candles and soaps also contain vegetable glycerin.

Pharmaceuticals
Vegetable glycerin is often an ingredient in stool softeners and other constipation aids since it eases the passage of foods through the digestive system. Added to cough syrups, the viscous fluid coats irritated passages with a sweet flavor. In toothpaste, vegetable glycerin prevents toothpaste from hardening inside the container and has been approved by the FDA as an anti-cavity drug.

Bell Chem is a food and ingredient supplier based in Longwood, FL (just north of Orlando) with hundreds of products stocked in its 50,000+ square-foot warehouse. You can expect the highest quality products, expedited shipping options for maximum efficiency, and unrivaled personalized customer service. Let our knowledgeable and friendly customer service representatives and accounting staff personalize all your needs by either calling 407-339-BELL (2355) or by sending us an online message.

Glycerine 99.5%

In 1779, glycerine was accidentally discovered by K.W. Scheele, a Swedish chemist, while he was heating a mixture of olive oil and litharge (lead monoxide). Scheele called glycerine the "sweet principle of fat" because of its sweet taste. Glycerine is a colorless, odorless, viscous, non-toxic liquid with a high amount of versatility. The key to glycerine's versatility is its unique combination of physical and chemical properties, compatibility with many other substances, and easy handling.

Because of its compatibility with other chemicals, glycerine is used in over 3500 products including:

• Food and beverage products

• Pharmaceutical products

• Personal care products like sun skin care, bar soaps, deodorants, cosmetics, facial cleansers, shampoo & conditioner, shower gels, and self-tanners.

• Oral care products such as mouthwash and toothpaste.

• Many other applications including agricultural, industrial, and laboratory uses.

About 300 million pounds of glycerine are used in the United States every year. Worldwide annual consumption totals about 1.1 billion pounds and is expected to rise as industrialization progresses in less developed countries.

As a top quality chemical supply company in Orlando, we look forward to the opportunity to provide you with quality chemical products like glycerine 99.5%. We have a full-time document coordinator as well as quality inspectors to ensure the accuracy and quality of our chemical orders. Give us a call today at 407-339-BELL (2355).