When it comes to handling sensitive items in laboratories, like radiolabeled compounds, it's important to make sure they're stored, worked with, and manufacturers in proper temperatures. Under proper GMP storage conditions, like in a cleanroom, compounds and chemicals can be manufactured and used correctly. Cleanrooms are an important part of any laboratory -- compared to the ambient outdoor air in urban areas, which contain 35 million particles per cubic meter, cleanroom environments offer just 12 particles per cubic meter. This allows lab technicians to control the environment chemicals are used in. So let's take a look at a few reasons why temperature monitoring in labs is important.
First off, it's temperature monitoring is important in GMP quality control conditions because physical properties of substances can change as temperature varies. So, if the temperature in a lab environment isn't stable, the substances being used in the lab may physically change. This, in turn, could make any results found from the testing unusable. Physical properties like viscosity, density, and even the form a substance takes can all be impacted by the temperature in the lab environment, which makes temperature monitoring essential.
Additionally, hot and cold spots within the lab can cause equipment temperature during storage and use of samples to change. If the temperature equipment that is stabilizing a substance senses that the temperature has suddenly dropped, due to a cold spot, then it was affected and changed accordingly. Hot and cold spots in a lab can be caused by heating and cooling systems within a lab -- which can be controlled with proper temperature monitoring.
And lastly, temperature monitoring systems are important in labs because they can help notify lab staff if something goes wrong. For example, if a freezer or refrigerator containing important samples fails, a temperature monitoring system could alert the appropriate people of the situation. Storing samples at proper temperatures is often crucial for the samples to be able to be used. And installing monitoring systems can help lab staff ensure everything is running properly and the samples are secure.
Temperature monitoring in GMP quality control environments and labs, in general, is important for the validity of samples and substances. Without proper temperature control, lab technicians will have a hard time working with samples and finding accurate test results.