Compounding II

Question 1

Glass mortars

Answer 1

for liquids

Question 2

Wedgwood mortars

Answer 2

for grinding dry crystals and hard powders

Question 3

Procelain mortars

Answer 3

for blending powders and pulverizing gummy consistencies

Question 4

Ingredient without an expiration date

Answer 4

assign a conservative date that is no more than 3 years from the date of receipt

Question 5

Surfactants

Answer 5

• lower the surface tension between two ingredients (or phases) in a preparation and make them more miscible (i.e., easier to mix together)
• keep the phases from quickly separating

Question 6

Types of surfactants

Answer 6

• wetting agents
• emulsifiers
• suspending agents
• levigating agents
• foaming agent
• glycols & gels

Question 7

Wetting agents

Answer 7

reduce the surface tension between a liquid and a solid

Question 8

Levigating agents

Answer 8

• glycerin or propylene glycol for aqueous (water soluble) compounds
• mineral oil for lipophilic (oil-soluble) compunds

Question 9

Levigation vs trituration

Answer 9

• both used to grind down particles (e.g., make particles smaller)
• levigation uses a levigating agent
• trituration is the grinding of particles without the addition of a liquid (the powder stays dry)

Question 10

Emulsion

Answer 10

a mixture of two or more liquids which are not able to be blended together (immiscible)

Question 11

Emulsifiers

Answer 11

added to an emulsion to help keep the liquid droplets dispersed throughout the liquid vehicle

Question 12

Foaming agents

Answer 12

• help foam to form by lowering the surface tension of water
• in non-sterile compounding, anti-foaming agents are more commonly used (e.g., simethicone)

Question 13

Suspension

Answer 13

a solid dispersed in a liquid

Question 14

Suspending/dispersing agents

Answer 14

• added to suspensions to help keep the solid particles from settling
• commercially available suspending agents: ora-plus

Ora-sweet provides flavor to Ora-Plus

Question 15

Glycols & gels used as surfactants and delivery vehicles

Answer 15

• polyethylene glycol (PEG)
• poloxamer

Question 16

Hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB)

Answer 16

• use to select the surfactant to use in an emulsion
• HLB ranges 0-20 with a midpoint of 10
• surfactants w/ a low HLB (< 10) are more lipid-soluble and are used for water-in-oil emulsion
• surfactants w/ a high HLB (> 10) are more water-soluble and are used for oil-in-water emulsion