Martin Westcott, business development manager at Melbourn Scientific, will give an overview of the new inhalation laws at the British Aerosol Manufacturers Association (BAMA) conference.
Although the dangers of aerosol inhalation are well documented, many manufacturers of personal, domestic and industrial aerosols are still unaware that they also need to perform a hazard analysis on their product formulations, according to Westcott.
Melbourn Scientific is a contract research company that provides analysis and formulation services for the pharmaceutical industry.
Through its work with inhaled drug products and delivery devices it is well aware of the risks of fine particle/droplet exposure.
Westcott was invited to speak at the BAMA conference to give an overview of the testing that is now required following recent legislation and how it can be used to aid product development.
He said: 'Inhalation of droplets or spray particles is one of the health risks that aerosol manufacturers have to address following the update to the Aerosol Dispensers Directive 75/324/EEC, which came into force earlier this year.
'Although we are seeing increased interest from healthcare, personal care, household and other aerosol manufacturers for data that will help with understanding and minimising the risk of accidental droplet inhalation, we still believe that some in the aerosol industry are unaware of the new regulations,' he added.
From 29 April 2010, manufacturers of personal and domestic aerosol dispensers have been required to perform a hazard analysis to demonstrate they understand the health implications of their products.
This hazard analysis includes assessment - where appropriate - of the risk of spray droplet inhalation, and this requires knowledge of the aerosol droplet size distribution, along with the physical and toxicological properties of the formulation.
The inhalable fraction relates to particles and droplets of less than 10mm in size.
These can be measured using a technique called laser diffraction.
If particles are above this size they are too large to be inhaled and therefore do not pose a risk.
However, the technology is limited in that it cannot differentiate between different 'species' or constituents of the droplets and if this is required impaction or chromatography techniques are necessary.
To assist these companies Melbourn Scientific, with its knowledge of inhaled product development for pharmaceuticals, is collaborating with Malvern Instruments and Copley Scientific on a series of studies aimed at refining the techniques and technologies currently available to meet the needs of aerosol manufacturers.
Derek Solomon, laboratory manager at Melbourn Scientific, said: 'Much of the experience gained in characterising pharmaceutical products, such as nasal sprays, is easily transferable to general aerosol products.
'The service being developed by Melbourn Scientific with its partners will help facilitate industry response to the new legislation,' he added.
Aerosol Dispensers Directive 75/324/EEC was amended in 2008 by European Commission Directive 2008/47/EC.
In the UK new regulations - the Aerosols Dispensers Regulations 2009 (SI 2009 No, 2824) - will implement the provisions of the amended Directive and their primary aims is to protect public health by requiring aerosol dispensers to meet certain safety standards.
They came into force at the end of April 2010.
