In the 1970s, the use of filtration in air quality management in pharmaceutical production, hospitals, and medical device manufacturing facilities became increasingly important and increasingly of interest to regulatory agencies. The air quality field was growing. From the air moving into and out of clean rooms to the protection of surgical environments to the expansion of the global medical drug industry, compressed air began to play a larger role—a role that continues undiminished (and, in fact, has increased substantially) today.
The United States accounts for roughly half of the global pharmaceutical market. This certainly keeps the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) busy in its oversight of pharmaceutical safety and effectiveness, including with the production processes. As the pharmaceutical industry has grown, so too has its utilization of compressed air for breathing air, operation of equipment and instrument air.
