Tackling TOC

Total organic carbon (TOC) results from the presence of bacteria and other organic contaminants in pharmaceutical water. In the past, the pharmaceutical industry maintained the required purity levels through microscopic and biochemical testing. In 1990, the United States Pharmacopoeia released suggestions for testing for TOC as an alternative method to other tests used for monitoring the quality of pharmaceutical water. Monitoring of TOC in water at all stages of the pharmaceutical industry became a requirement by the USP. This continuous demand for increased sensitivity in the pharmaceutical industry led to stricter requirements for maintaining high purity levels for water for injection (WFI) and purified water (PW).

Sampling, Oxidation and Detection Systems
The TOC analyzer consists of three main parts - sampler, oxidizer and detector. All three parts must provide the necessary conditions for the pharmaceutical industry to meet the required regulations.

The sampling system must possess several multifunctional features, including automatic sampling, acidification and sparging for TOC analysis (reduces measuring time), automatic dilution capability—which reduces sample preparation time, number of standards needed and enables the use of one standard to prepare different calibration curves—and automatic addition of required reagents.