Healthcare products often require sterilization when the indication includes “use on broken skin”. Historically the two most common methods have been ethylene oxide gas and gamma irradiation. Recently there has been more use of e-beam sterilization. E-beam is sometimes preferred when non-permeable packaging is indicated and when lower exposure times are desired. 

E-beam irradiation has been known to affect acrylics through both the formation of cross-links and through bond/chain breaking. It is expected that different formulations of acrylic adhesives may experience lesser e-beam effects on physical properties than others.

In an effort to identify adhesives that may be less effected by e-beam irradiation, Scapa Healthcare has examined the effect of two different doses of e-beam sterilization (27 and 40 kGy) on the physical properties of four different commonly used skin adhesives (I to IV).

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