KENYA STANDARD             KS 2406:2012  
    ICS ….. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Packaging — Flexible tubes—Test 
method for the air tightness of 
closures 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Updated on 4 th  May 2012 
 
 
 © KEBS 2012                1st   Edition 2012  
 
 
 
 
 
    KS 2406:2012  
ii         © KEBS 2012 — All rights reserved  
 
 
TECHNICAL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATION 
 
The following organizations were represented on the  Technical Committee: 
 
University of Nairobi – Chemistry Dept 
Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute  
National Environment Management Authority 
East African Packaging Industries ltd 
Kenya flower council 
Export Promotion Council 
Consumer Information Network 
Government Chemist-Department 
Sumaria Industries Ltd. 
GS1 Kenya 
Nakumatt Holdings Ltd 
Uchumi Supermarkets Ltd. 
Ritz Africa Consultants Ltd 
Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) 
Ministry Of Industrialization 
KEPSA/ICT Federation 
Tetrapak 
Nestle Ear 
Coca Cola East & Central Africa Ltd  
Barcode Global Standards 1 (EA)  Ltd 
Institute of Packaging of Kenya 
Kenya Bureau of Standards — Secretariat 
 
REVISION OF KENYA STANDARDS 
 
In order to keep abreast of progress in industry, K enya Standards shall be regularly reviewed.  Sugges tions for 
improvements to published standards, addressed to t he Managing Director, Kenya Bureau of Standards, ar e welcome. 
 
 
  
 
©Kenya Bureau of Standards, 2012 
 
Copyright. Users are reminded that by virtue of Sec tion 25 of the Copyright Act, Cap. 12 of 2001  of t he Laws of Kenya, 
copyright subsists in all Kenya Standards and excep t as provided under Section 26 of this Act, no Keny a Standard 
produced by Kenya Bureau of Standards may be reprod uced, stored in a retrieval system in any form or t ransmitted by 
any means without prior permission in writing from the Managing Director. 
 
 
KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS (KEBS) 
 
Head Office:  P.O. Box 54974, Nairobi-00200, Tel.: (+254 020) 605 490, 602350, Fax: (+254 020)  604031 
E-Mail: info@kebs.org,  Web:http://www.kebs.org   
 
Coast Region    Lake Region         Rift Valley Reg ion  
P.O. Box 99376, Mombasa-80100 P.O. Box 2949, Kisumu -40100       P.O. Box 2138, Nakuru-20100 
Tel.: (+254  041) 229563, 230939/40 Tel.: (+254 057 ) 23549, 22396       Tel.: (+254 051) 210553, 21055 5 
Fax: (+254  041) 229448  Fax: (+254 057) 21814     KS 2406:2012  
© KEBS 2012 — All rights reserved                    iii  
 
Foreword  
 
Air tightness of closures for flexible tubes is ver y important in the maintaining the quality and inte grity 
of the product. The tubes have to be airtight to pr event gases from entering. The presence of oxygen 
increases the microbial activity for aerobic microb es hence the deterioration of quality of the produc ts. 
Some ingredients of the products also react with ga ses in the air resulting in the undesired 
characteristics and therefore leading to spoilage a nd shortening of the life span. This standard shall  
be useful to manufacturers of pharmaceutical, cosme tic, hygiene, food and other domestic and 
industrial products in checking quality of the flex ible tubes.  
 
This standard shall be useful to manufacturers of p harmaceutical, cosmetic, hygiene, food and other 
domestic and industrial products in checking qualit y of the flexible tubes.  
 
 
 
During the preparation of this Standard reference w as made on; 
 
 
BS EN 12377:1999 Packaging—Flexible tubes—Test meth od for air tightness of closures. 
 
 
Acknowledgment is hereby made for the assistance de rived from this source . KS 2406:2012  
© KEBS 2012 — All rights reserved  1  
Kenya Standard 
Packaging — Flexible tubes—Test method for the air tightness 
of closures  
 
 
 
1. Scope 
 
This Kenya standard specifies a test method for air  tightness of the closures for flexible tubes. It 
is applicable to flexible single-layer metal or pla stics tubes, and multilayer or laminated tubes, 
used for packing pharmaceutical, cosmetic, hygiene,  food and other domestic and industrial 
products. 
  
 
2. Principle 
 
The detection of air bubbles escaping from the cap,  when the tube is held under water and 
subjected to an internal air pressure of 0.25 bar i ndicates that the cap is defective. 
 
 
3  Apparatus 
 
3.1 Air compressor, with an initial minimum pressure of  2 bar, equipped with an air regulator 
allowing a constant and stable pressure of (0.25 ± 0.01) bar. 
 
 
 
 
3.2 Manometer , accurate to 0,01 bar. 
    KS 2406:2012  
2       © KEBS 2012 — All rights reserved  
33 Conical connector , adapted to the diameter of the tube, which allows  the attachment of the 
open end of the tube to the compressed air source w ithout leaks. 
 
3.4 Transparent glass container , of a size such as to allow the head of the tube t o be immersed in 
water. 
 
4  Procedure 
 
The test shall be carried out on the capped tube at  an ambient temperature of between 10 0C and 
25 0C.Attach the open end of the tube to the compressed  air source with the conical connector 
(see Figure 1). Set the air regulator so as to main tain an air pressure of (0.25 ± 0.01) bar inside 
the tube. Immerse the head of the tube in the water , ensuring that the cap is totally immersed for 
at least 3 seconds. The tube is considered defectiv e if a continuous stream of bubbles is seen 
throughout the test period. 
 
5 Test report  
 
 
The test report shall contain the following informa tion: 
a) the reference to this standard and description o f the sampling procedure. 
b) the complete identification of the batch and of the tubes tested; 
c) the number of tubes tested; 
d) the number of defects; 
e) acceptance or refusal of the batch in accordance  with specifications  
f) all factors which could have affected the result s, or all operating details not specified in this 
standard; 
g) date of test; 
h) name of the tester