INTRODUCTION

Cured silicone components are used as elastomeric closures for pharmaceutical packaging and also as components in manufacturing operations for drug substances and drug products. Silicone elastomers are obtained by cross-linking (curing) a linear polysiloxane constructed mainly of dimethylsiloxy units with small quantities of methylvinylsiloxy groups, where the chain ends are blocked by trimethylsiloxy or dimethylvinylsiloxy groups.