Accurate or Protective: What Is the Goal of Non-Targeted Extractables and Leachables Quantitation and Identification?

Leachables are quantified and identified to enable their quantitative toxicological safety risk assessment (qTSRA). The leachable's reported concentration and identity must meet certain quality expectations to be suitable for qTSRA. In this Correspondence, the author considers accuracy and protectiveness as competing key quality attributes and suggests that protectiveness is the proper quality attribute for qTSRA, as qTSRA is based on the foundation that a leachable's potential adverse effect on patient health and safety must not be underestimated. Considering this conclusion, means of making concentration estimates and proposed identities protective are discussed.