Micropollutants from pharmaceutical products – Porous Silicon is the green alternative

Christina Westerveld Haug
June 8, 2018

New generation medicines have revolutionized human health through the last century. Awareness is growing however, about the fact that a portion of the medicines we use also reaches the environment around us. Antibiotics, hormones and other micropollutants from our drain system can harm fauna and flora around us. The requirement to choose sustainable and environment friendly ingredients, both for the active drug ingredient itself, but also for the excipients, is expected to become a high focus area in drug formulation going forward. 

Porous Silicon particles can be used to limit the dosage of active ingredient, and by that limit the unnecessary negative impact on the environment. Porous Silicon is also a green alternative to other drug carriers that are themselves micro pollutants. The benefit with Porous Silicon particles is firstly that the particle structure dissolves completely already before leaving the human body. The decomposition products are harmless, and are already present naturally in the body. These products are readily excreted through the urine. Out in nature, silicon is one of the worlds most abundant elements, more commonly known as sand. 

Do you want to give your product a green profile? Explore the possibilities with Porous Silicon as expedients in your drug formulation.

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