Effects of gamma radiation on polymers commonly used in medical devices

M.N.CIAVARO; M. F. DEL GROSSO; A. RODRIGUEZ; N. SANTORO; A.J. PACHADO; M.V. VOGT

Conferencia; ICARST; 2022

Throughout the last decades, 60Co has been used as a source of gamma ionizing radiation, and it is a largely used method for sterilization of medical devices. In Argentina, it is the most used method up to now but there is a growing interest in electron beams and X-rays technologies. In order to encourage the use of electron accelerators as a sterilizing method, it is important to know the effects generated in most commonly used medical devices materials. With the aim of encouraging industries to sterilize their products using electron accelerators in the near future, some polymers used in medical devices such as polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA), will be analyzed. Until now, PP and ABS samples were studied. These polymers were irradiated under different conditions (dose, air and vacuum) in the usual way, with gamma rays, and some of their properties were studied. The irradiation was carried out with a 60Co source in semi industrial irradiation plant located in Ezeiza Atomic Center (Argentina). The doses and dose rates used were 20 kGy, 60 kGy and 20 kGy/h, respectively