Helium Usage Management – Preparing for a Sustainable Future

Heidi Wojno, Director Method Development and Validation, Heather Bridwell, Director Pharmaceutical Product Testing, and Terry Schuck, Senior Manager Pharmaceutical Raw Materials

Helium is utilized as the primary carrier gas for GC chromatography testing, since inception of the technology. Currently, helium is still preferred due to its inertness, separation efficiency, and consistent performance.

Helium is a finite, non-renewable, resource, and in recent years, supply chain issues have created increased cost and availability concerns. Helium usage has a negative impact on the environment. Helium is extracted from natural gas. Natural gas mining processes contribute to greenhouse gas emissions with high methane content.

The Eurofins Lancaster BioPharmaceutical Chemistry teams assess testing alternatives and take actions to reduce helium usage in the laboratory. Future efforts will continue to reduce helium use as a GC consumable, losses from use as an inert purge supply for mobile phase, plus potential leakage loss from a massive inhouse gas supply infrastructure.

Where helium is the preferred or the only allowable carrier gas in GC applications, conservation efforts are implemented to include the following:

• Gas chromatography methods with an excessive split flow are being evaluated to use the instrument gas saver mode, which reduces split flow after a programmed time within the injection.
• Facility staff remove unused valves and check hundreds of helium lines for leaks during periodic room audits.
• Per vendor recommendation, GC instruments do not “idle” between analytical runs. Immediately after analysis completion, the column is removed and the helium flows turned off until the instrument’s next use.

Where options exist to modify gas type for existing analytical methods, laboratories have begun transitioning methods and developing alternative parameters. Optimizing nitrogen use for pressurization/carrier gases for GC analysis is preferred. However, nitrogen has a lower optimal linear velocity than helium. This can lead to broadening peaks, causing increased analysis times and potential resolution issues when compared to helium-based analyses. Substituting nitrogen for helium for use as a GC carrier gas needs to be evaluated per method. Nitrogen has been evaluated as an alternative for USP <467> Residual Solvent testing with acceptable results in many cases. Hydrogen is a secondary alternative but poses an increased safety concern. Both nitrogen and hydrogen can be sourced from generators in an ultrapure state. Already, some existing GC methods established for clients have been modified and revalidated by customer request, using nitrogen or hydrogen as the carrier gas.

Helium may be the only option for use in purging/creating inert atmosphere for Mobile Phase for analyses like Ion Chromatography. Where an alternative is not acceptable for use, assuring sealed containers and limited loss of gas is a key action taken.

Fluctuations in helium production impacts prices and supply. Developing strategies to conserve or eliminate helium usage is critical for our Industry. Eurofins will continue efforts to achieve this as it pertains to reduced helium reliance and consumption.