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Paul Jones

Mrs. Ryan
AP Biology
March 12th, 2010

I. Title
A Study of the Effects of Steam and Humidity on Brand-Name and Generic Acetylsalicylic Acid

Table of Contents
I.Title...................................................................................................................................................1
II.Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
III.Abstract...........................................................................................................................................3
IV.Method............................................................................................................................................5
A.Method Overview........................................................................................................................5
B.For each tablet it is necessary to - ..............................................................................................5
C.Method Notes..............................................................................................................................5
D.Supplies.......................................................................................................................................6
V.Results..............................................................................................................................................7
VI.Discussion......................................................................................................................................8
VII.Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................10
VIII.References/Bibliography...........................................................................................................10
A.Major Sources...........................................................................................................................10
B.Minor Sources...........................................................................................................................11
IX.Graphs and Diagrams...................................................................................................................12
X.Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13

Paul Jones pg. 1


II. Introduction

Perhaps the title of my experiment makes it sound a bit more complex than it truly is, for in

laymen's terms, my project would be titled: “The Effects of Steam on Aspirin - The Steamy

Medicine Cabinet.” The idea behind this experiment is simply that; can steam from your shower

affect the concentration of your aspirin? This is significant because across America (and the world)

people store aspirin in their medicine cabinets, and furthermore, people across America (and the

world) are showering every day. Could this degrade their aspirin? Is this something people taking

low dose aspirin tablets to prevent heart attacks should consider?

The idea for this project came rather easily to me. Admittedly, I like my showers rather

scorching, and one day, while trying to think of a project, I noticed the steam while trying to get into

my medicine cabinet. Additionally, I had some resources in the drug concentration field, as both my

parents have worked in the pharmaceutical industry. After the idea had hatched in my mind, I

discussed it with my parents and teachers, and further developed the idea until it turned into the

project enclosed.

Paul Jones pg. 2


III. Abstract

Over-the-counter drugs and supplements claim that as long as certain conditions are met, it

is safe to store them in your bathroom's medicine cabinet. Oftentimes brand-name and generic

versions of the same drug have the same warnings about storage and storage conditions. But do they

have the same rate of degeneration when stress is applied? Is the advertised dosage an accurate

reflection of how much of something is truly in a pill? Is there an accurate method to analyze and

quantify these questions when they're applied to the popular analgesic, acetylsalicylic acid, better

known as aspirin. In conclusion, is it safe to store aspirin in a “steamy-bathroom?”

With a precise enough method, I hypothesized that I could conclude relative differences in

brand name and generic aspirins, both in untouched and degraded forms. Specifically, that there will

be no significant difference in “pure-form” brand name or generic aspirins, but there will be a small

difference in concentration when they are exposed to steam, the literal “steamy-bathroom.” But the

differences in aspirin concentration due to steam will be equivalent in both brand name and generic

drugs. Considering that ASA degrades at 140° C, and steam is approximately 100° C, I

hypothesized it is not a great risk to have aspirin in “steamy bathroom conditions”

My method used sodium hydroxide solution to hydrolyze ASA to produce salicylic acid. The

salicylic acid then reacted with iron (III) to give a complex that absorbs light at 530nm. This

absorption allows measurement using a spectrophotometer. As the study is comparative, standard

(known) solutions of ASA are not required.

Steam and humidity degrades aspirin, and it is possible for steam from one's shower to affect

aspirin in one's medicine cabinet. My experiment was able to detect these changes in aspirin

concentration, and precisely, too (within almost 10% coefficient of variation). Initial concentrations

of brand name and generic aspirin were found to be equivalent, but not necessarily “as advertised,”

for my experiment was relative, not quantitative, and I could not detect milligrams of aspirin.

Paul Jones pg. 3


According to my results, once steam is applied, generic aspirin degrades while brand-name retains

its structure.

Paul Jones pg. 4


IV. Method

A. Method Overview
This method uses sodium hydroxide solution to hydrolyze ASA to produce salicylic acid.

The salicylic acid then reacts with iron (III) to give a complex that absorbs light at 530nm. This

absorption allows measurement using a spectrophotometer. As the study is comparative, standard

(known) solutions of ASA are not required.

B. For each tablet it is necessary to -


i. Place one aspirin tablet in a 125 mL Erlenmeyer flask. Add 10 mL of a sodium

hydroxide (NaOH) solution to the flask, and heat until the contents begin to boil.

ii. Quantitatively transfer the solution to a 250 mL volumetric flask, and dilute with

distilled water to the mark.

iii. Pipet a 2.5 mL sample of this aspirin tablet solution to a 50 mL volumetric flask.

Dilute to the mark with an iron (III) solution. Place solution in a 125 mL Erlenmeyer

flask.

iv. Turn on the spectrophotometer (let warm up for 15 minutes).

v. Adjust the wavelength to 530 nm.

vi. Insert the blank (unadulterated iron solution) and set the blank to “0 absorbance.”

vii. Insert aspirin sample solution from 125ml Erlenmeyer flask into cuvette, and

insert into spectrophotometer.

viii. Obtain an absorbance reading for the aspirin sample.

C. Method Notes

ix. Use extreme caution and hood when boiling sodium hydroxide.

x. Make sure all aspirin dissolved in sodium hydroxide, “clumps” will skew results.

Paul Jones pg. 5


xi. Reset absorbency to “0” after every spectrophotometric test.

D. Supplies
xii. Erlenmeyer flasks

xiii. Cuvettes

xiv. Graduated cylinder

xv.Pipets

xvi. Volumetric flasks

xvii. Spectrophotometer

xviii. Parafilm

xix. Test tube rack

xx. Hot plate

xxi. Brand-name (Bayer) and generic aspirin (Good Neighbor Pharmacy)

xxii. Sodium hydroxide (NaOH) .5M

xxiii. Ferric (III) chloride (FeCl3) .02M

Paul Jones pg. 6


V. Results

The results of my experiment clearly show a decrease of about 25% in the steamed generic

ASA whereas the steamed brand-name ASA retained its structure. This would suggest that brand

name ASA is more durable than generic. But the decreased concentration of the generic steamed

pills shows that steam can definitely affect aspirin strength, and thus conclusively, one should not

let one's aspirin come into contact with steam, humidity, or “steamy-bathroom conditions.”

My experiment was found to be precise enough, for my coefficient of variation was safely

within the under 20% mark, most results being under 10%. In terms of the mean, the brand-name

steamed aspirin shows an increase in concentration, which is arguably impossible. But the

coefficient of variation increased, which shows that there is there's a 10% window of inaccuracy as

opposed to about a 5%window on the controls. This suggests that the brand-name variable did see

some decrease, but my high results outweigh the lower one and bring the mean up. From this I can

tentatively conclude that the steamed brand-name aspirin did see some light degradation, but my

method was not precise enough to detect it.

Brand-Name Generic Brand-Name Generic


Test Control Control Variable Variable
1 0,42 0,41 0,46 0,23
2 0,41 0,45 0,35 0,26
3 0,42 0,42 0,45 0,28
4 0,38 0,41 0,46 0,27
5 0,43 0,44 0,43 0,26
Mean 0,41 0,43 0,43 0,26
Standard
Deviation 0,02 0,02 0,05 0,02
Coefficient of
Variation 4,67% 4,26% 10,78% 7,20%

Paul Jones pg. 7


VI. Discussion

My method of measuring aspirin breaks down the aspirin tablet into salicylic acid (SA) and

makes it react with a iron (III) to create a complex that absorbs light at 530nm. But what if the

steam the “variable” pills were exposed to broke down the aspirin into salicylic acid? If steam

breaks aspirin down into salicylic acid, this method couldn't measure it.

ASA steam ASA + SA + “A” “A” + (SA + Fe)


(steamed tablet) method
(boiling NaOH)

530nm
It should be noted that this rendition of the aspirins degeneration pathway uses “A” and

“SA” variables to represent aspirin's acetyl group and salicylic group, for sake of brevity and

comprehensiveness.

Furthermore, another error with the method I used that I would amend upon a second try

would be to acquire more than 5 runs of each pill. This would allow me to more conclusively define

what truly happens to aspirin in steamy conditions. I imagine this is a common experimental

problem; lack of data. By this I mean, not only the data of the absorbency of the the aspirin

solutions, but also things like:

• Temperature and time of/in the aspirin steam bath

• Expiration and manufacturing dates of aspirin tablets

• Hardness of tablets

• Weight of aspirin tablets before and after steam bath and how it compares to absorbency

Additionally, something that could be incorporated into the experimental design is the smell

of tablets after a steam bath. This thought came to me after I very cleverly put aspirin in the oven at

Paul Jones pg. 8


degradation temperature (140 degrees Celsius) to see what would happen (very bad idea). After this

I noticed the sample smelt like vinegar. This was the acetic acid being released into the air

(harmless in small doses, but mild irritant). This coincided with my experiment because after the

aspirin steam bath, the generic pills gave of a vinegary smell while the brand-name did not. From

this I can tentatively conclude that the generic tablets degraded into their acetyl group, while the

brand-name either did not degrade or took some other pathway.

Paul Jones pg. 9


VII. Acknowledgments

A. My Mother and Father

i. for their continued support.

B. Mrs. Deborah Ryan

i. for her invaluable aid, advice, and generosity.

C. Steinert High School Science Department

i. for their role in my academic development.

D. Ubuntu, OpenOffice, and the open-source community

i. for giving me the tools I needed to present and develop my ideas.

VIII. References/Bibliography

A. Major Sources

ii. "Aspirin." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 1 Jan 2010, 15:00 UTC. 5 Jan 2010

<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aspirin&oldid=335288022>.

a) Although The Wikipedia is often put down in the academic and scientific

community for being unreliable, but I firmly believe in both it's principles and

and it's academic use when in moderation. “Imagine a world in which every

single person on the planet has free access to the sum of all human knowledge.”

iii. University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, "Spectrophotometric Analysis of Aspirin, Lab

019". Science in Motion.

a) This is the source from which I spliced together my method, using their method

of preparation, but adding my own elements to analysis of results. This

difference was in using known and standard solutions as opposed to comparative

analysis.

Paul Jones pg. 10


B. Minor Sources

iv. S. Farrel, Dr.A. Aspirin Stability. Freshman Engineering Clinic I, 2003.

a) General information.

v. Drugs.com, "Asprin". Cerner Multum. 1/4/10 <http://www.drugs.com/aspirin.html>.

a) General information.

Paul Jones pg. 11


IX. Graphs and Diagrams
0.45

0.4

0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
Generic Control Generic Variable
Brand-Name Control Brand-Name Variable

Brand-Name
Control
Generic Control
Brand-Name
Variable
Generic Variable

Paul Jones pg. 12


X. Conclusion

Steam and humidity degrades aspirin, and it is possible for steam from one's shower to affect

aspirin in one's medicine cabinet. My experiment was able to detect these changes in aspirin

concentration, and precisely, too (within almost 10% coefficient of variation). Initial concentrations

of brand name and generic aspirin were found to be equivalent, but not necessarily “as advertised,”

for my experiment was relative, not quantitative, and I could not detect milligrams of aspirin.

According to my results, once steam is applied, generic aspirin degrades while brand-name retains

its structure.

As per practical application, keep your aspirin sealed, in its container, away from steam. If

you plan to consume the aspirin pretty immediately, generic aspirin will suffice. If you want your

aspirin to last many days in your medicine cabinet, brand-name is a much safer bet, as far as

potency is concered.

• Aspirin concentration is affected by steam and humidity.

• Based on advertised aspirin concentration and absorbency initial aspirin concentration is

equivalent in both brand-name and generic ASA.

• Brand-name aspirin has something that makes it more durable that generic aspirin.

• My method can detect relative differences in aspirin concentration.

Paul Jones pg. 13

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