Does the gas used to sterilize pharmaceutical products pass through plastic, only through paper?
It depends on the plastic. Items to be sterilized are typically wrapped in SMS wrap (spun bond–melt blown–spun bond polypropylene) which is porous enough to allow for the penetration of steam or EO, but the pores are small enough to filter pathogens and maintain sterility of the wrapped product. This maintains the sterility of the product and allows for handling after the cycle. If you were to seal the items in a hard plastic container, then you probably wouldn’t see any sterilization of the components inside. Note that for EO sterilization, no EO is trapped in the wrapping, as the chamber is very well aerated following sterilization. EO is a toxic gas, and you would not want end users exposed to gas trapped in the packaging when using the product.
