An Analysis of Emissivity and Reflectance Changes in Tablets as a Function of Their Physical Form

Drug tablet crushing is a common practice both in domestic and clinical settings. The alteration of a drug’s physical form through crushing removes its protective outer layer, potentially exposing the active pharmaceutical ingredient to UV radiation. This exposure may result in reduced therapeutic efficacy or the formation of undesirable degradation products. This study aimed to investigate the influence of tablet form and color on reflectance and emissivity properties. The research employed novel methodology utilizing a 410-Solar hemispherical directional reflectometer and an ET-100 emissiometer for emissivity measurements. Results demonstrated that intact white and yellow-orange tablets exhibited higher reflectance compared to their powdered counterparts. White tablets, both in solid and crushed forms, consistently showed higher reflectance across all wavelength ranges compared to yellow-orange tablets in their respective forms. Similarly, intact tablets of both colors displayed higher emissivity values than their powdered forms, with white tablets showing higher emissivity in both forms compared to yellow-orange tablets. The findings indicate that crushing tablets, regardless of their color, increases the exposure of the active pharmaceutical ingredient to potentially harmful radiation.