When we go to the hospital or order oxygen for home healthcare, most of us go on faith that the gas is safe. Few, if any, patients worry about gas contaminants, like moisture, which can lead to corrosion within the gas delivery system and the formation of harmful bacteria in the gas delivery lines.
Yet, because of its inherent stickiness and ubiquity in the air, moisture is one of the hardest molecules to measure and to control.
Fortunately, gas suppliers strongly adhere to government standards for moisture and other contaminants when it comes to medical gases, which are regulated as a drug. In the United States, standards are set by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), a non–governmental, official public standards– setting authority for prescription and over–the–counter medicines and other healthcare products manufactured or sold in the US. In Europe, standards are set by The European Pharmacopoeia (Ph Eur).
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