Features of TOC Swabs, How to Use Cleaning Verification Swabs

Characteristics of TOC Swabs

• TOC sampling swabs are used for microbial sampling and TOC sampling of purified water.
  
• The swab head is made of 100% continuous polyester fiber, the sampling head is molded directly into the polypropylene handle, which is more stable than traditional cotton swabs.
  
• The polypropylene handle is designed to be easy to break, so it can be broken off directly after sampling, leaving the swab tip in the clean sampling bottle. Easy to operate, effectively avoid the problem of cross-contamination in the traditional way, while improving efficiency.
  
• Cleaning verification swabs are manufactured and packaged in a class 100 clean area after cleaning, with very low dust generation.
• The TOC swab is sterilized by γ-ray to ensure sterility.
• Adopt international sterile bag for easy sterilization to avoid contamination of cleaning and verification swabs.

How to Use TOC Cleaning Validation Swabs?

1. Before removing the swab you need to check the product packaging for wear and tear, and replace the product if the packaging is found to be incomplete.
2. After removing the TOC swab be careful that the swab tip does not touch anything other than the sample being sampled to avoid contamination.
3. Determine the wipe area so that the amount of residue meets the linear range of the test method. Usually take 25cm² or 100cm² to determine the wipe solvent and drug swab, specify the degree of drug swab wetting. If the swab is moistened and squeezed on the solvent bottle until there are no drops, take a sample from some area inside the pharmaceutical production tank. A swab is placed on the surface to be sampled and the entire surface of the sample is wiped. The direction and pressure of wiping are defined in the cleaning standard operating procedure (SOP).
4. To wipe, press the swab tip onto the sampling surface and apply pressure so that it bends at 45° to the wiping surface. Smoothly and slowly wipe the sampling surface, moving it from one side to the other while moving forward, the wiping process should cover the entire surface. (Flip the swab so that the other side of the swab is also wiped, but perpendicular to the previous wipe moving direction, each swab is wiped to sample 25cm² respectively, the sampling location should avoid duplication with the microbial sampling point).
5. After the wiping is completed, the swab head of each sampling point is broken off and put into the same sample receiving tube and sealed tightly with a stopper, and then the sampled swab is extracted.
6. The swab is placed in a vial containing an acidic solution, subjected to an ultrasonic or centrifugal process, and finally analyzed for TOC concentration in this acidic solution. The swab can also be analyzed by placing it in a sealed glass ampoule containing a 5% phosphoric acid and 100 g/l sodium persulfate solution, followed by the analysis of the swab extract. The carbon dioxide in the form of inorganic carbon is purged into the environment and the glass vial is then sealed. The glass vial is heated to 100°C and stored for the specified time. Eventually, the glass bottle is opened and the TOC is blown out in the form of carbon dioxide and tested.
7. Tools and containers used for sampling are sterilized
8. After the sample is taken, the sample tube should be labeled with the following information: sample location, purpose of sample, sample number, and date of sample taken.