In this blog, we’ll discuss:
- Why sample security is essential in pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing
- The risks associated with traditional settle plates vs locking plates
- How locking plates such as Redipor® TwistLock help prevent accidental contamination
- The practical benefits of how locking settle and contact plates increase efficiency
- Long-term advantages in maintaining consistent environmental monitoring practices
Why Sample Security Matters
Sample security is crucial in environmental monitoring for pharmaceutical and medical manufacturing. Ensuring that environmental monitoring samples are uncompromised throughout the process is key to maintaining reliable data and upholding product safety.
Environmental monitoring relies on settle plates to capture airborne contaminants in controlled areas, while contact plates are used to capture samples from surfaces and gowning. But the way these plates are designed can impact sample integrity. Standard plates with loose-fitting lids are widely used – they’re familiar, cost-effective, and entrenched in existing workflows. However, they do bear inherent risks that can compromise reliability.
Switching to locking plates, such as Redipor TwistLock plates, offers a way to overcome these challenges, improving both sample security and overall efficiency.
The Risks of Standard Plates
One of the biggest issues with traditional settle and contact plates is their loose-fitting lids. While the design of standard settle plates allows air to circulate over the agar surface, it also means the plate is vulnerable to accidental lid displacement. The same is true of standard contact plates, used to determine the existence of microbial contaminants on surfaces within the clean room, monitoring of gowning worn by operatives, and understanding surface-to-surface contaminations. In both cases, a slight knock, mishandling, or vibration to a standard settle plate or contact plate can cause the lid to shift or fall off entirely, thus exposing the sample to external contaminants. Post-sampling contamination can result in false positives, adversely impacting your workflow and the reliability of your findings.
When this happens, the sample is no longer reliable, which means the plate must be discarded and the monitoring process repeated. Not only does this slow down operations, but it also increases costs and creates additional, unnecessary workload for lab staff.
Another challenge with standard plates is the contamination risk during transportation and incubation. Even when handled carefully, these plates require a level of delicacy that’s difficult to maintain in a busy lab. Movement during transport or incubation can introduce airborne contaminants, leading to false positives. This can, in turn, result in the need for otherwise unnecessary corrective actions, investigations, and production delays.
How Locking Plates Improve Sample Security
Locking plates, such as Redipor TwistLock plates, provide a more secure solution. With a secure, tight-fitting lid, locking plates eliminate the risk of accidental exposure while still allowing recovery of microorganisms.
The locking mechanism ensures that the lid remains secure throughout handling, transport, and incubation. This means that there’s far less chance of sample compromise, reducing the potential for losses. Watch our drop-test video, where we put TwistLock plates up against standard, loose-lid settle plates in a series of real-world lab simulations.
Switching to locking plates doesn’t just improve sample security – it also streamlines workflows. Because the lids stay in place, laboratory personnel can handle, transport, and store plates with greater confidence.
With traditional plates, careful handling is essential to avoid disturbing samples. This often slows down processes and increases the risk of human error. Locking plates simplify transportation and storage, reducing the need for excessive caution and making environmental monitoring processes more efficient.
Locking plates also reduce the need for resampling. If a standard plate is compromised, the only option is to discard it and start again, adding both time and cost to the process. Locking plates significantly reduce the chances of this happening, in turn increasing the likelihood that your operations will run smoothly.
Long-Term Advantages of Locking Plates
By incorporating locking plates into contamination control strategies, pharmaceutical manufacturers can:
- Enhance sample security – reducing contamination risks improves the reliability of microbial monitoring
- Minimise re-sampling requirements – fewer compromised samples means fewer delays and lower costs
- Improve workflow efficiency – locking plates streamline handling, transportation, and storage
Ultimately, the goal of environmental monitoring is to maintain control over contamination risks while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. Locking plates such as Redipor TwistLock offer a simple yet highly effective way to strengthen sample security, helping you maintain the highest standards of product safety.
For more information on our TwistLock settle or contact plates, or Cherwell’s range of Redipor prepared media products, contact our team today.
