ABSTRACT
Glass containers have a long history as packaging materials for foods, beverages, and medicinal products. Increasingly, many container manufacturers offer pre-inspection, sterilization, barrier coatings, or other specialized services needed for specific applications. This chapter explores the characteristics of the glassy state, the broad range of industrial glass compositions and applications, the function of the various types of constituents that are included in commercial glasses, and the manufacturing process steps that are common to the production of virtually all glass articles. The chapter concludes with a series of topics that are relevant to pharmaceutical formulation development, pharmaceutical filling, inspection and packaging operations, and the quality of parenteral drug products that are filled into glass containers. They are: the chemical, thermal, and physical properties of containers and an overview of some quality blemishes and defects that can arise at various points throughout the supply chain.
