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.