The review of over 800 references on aluminum (Al) published since the mid-fifties covers the occurrence of Al in soil, air, water, plants and food products, as well as air and water pollution prob...

Aluminum in the environment and human health.

Pharmaceutical Sciences—1968. A Literature Review of Pharmaceutics

There has been a considerable increase in the addition of drugs to intravenous fluids in medical practice over the past few years. The hazards associated with the practice result from microbiological contamination, incompatibility, drug degradation, ineffective drug levels, and increased opportunity for hospital medication errors. The risk to the patient is unacceptably high if this practice is carried out as a routine without adequate knowledge and precautionary measures.

Addition of drugs to intravenous fluids.

THERE HAS BEEN A CONSIDERABLE I N crease in the practice of adding drugs to intravenous ( IV) fluids in recent years. A number of surveys have been carried out in the United States, and an upward trend in this practice has been shown. Holysko and Ravin (1965) found that 45 percent of all IV fluids had drugs added to them before or during administration; Ho and Rasero (1965) found in their study that 70 percent of IV fluids had drugs added. Sixty-three million IV prescriptions are administered in American hospitals each year. Of these, 25,000000 IV prescriptions contain one or more additives (Wuest, 1970). Donn (1970) stated that between 1967 and 1970, the proportion of IV fluids to which drugs had been added rose from 50 percent to 80 percent. Table 1 shows the results of the studies of Holysko and Ravin (1964) and Ho and Rasero (1965).

I. V. Additive Review Addition of Drugs to Intravenous Fluids

Intravenous solutions must be checked for particulate matter content before they are dispensed by the pharmacist. This is essential for each unopened original container and for those containers which contain one or more additives. \"Particulate matter refers to the mobile undissolved substances unintentionally present in a parenteral.\" This is a very broad definition, but contamination in I.V. fluids incompasses many types of material. Some of the particulate matter which has been identified includes fibrous material, fungi, glass, metal, rubber, insect fragments and chemicals.\

Warren Kramer

Papers

Precipitates found in admixtures of potassium chloride and dextrose 5 percent in water.