Antimicrobial agent(s)
It meets the requirements under
Antimicrobial PreservativesEffectiveness á51ñ,and meets the labeled claim for content of the antimicrobial agent(s)as determined by the method set forth under
Antimicrobial AgentsContent á341ñ,except to use the following procedure when methylparaben and propylparaben are used as the antimicrobial agents.
Mobile phase
Prepare a filtered and degassed mixture of methanol and water (70:30).Make adjustments if necessary (see
System Suitabilityunder
Chromatography á621ñ).
Standard preparation
Dissolve accurately weighed quantities of
USP Methylparaben RSand
USP Propylparaben RSin methanol,and dilute quantitatively,and stepwise if necessary,with methanol to obtain a solution having known concentrations of about 1.2and 0.12mg per mL,respectively.Pipet 5mLof this solution into a 50-mLvolumetric flask,add by pipet 30mLof methanol,dilute with water to volume,and mix.
Test preparation
Pipet 1mLof Injection into a 10-mLvolumetric flask,add by pipet 7mLof methanol,dilute with water to volume,and mix.
Chromatographic system
(see
Chromatography á621ñ)The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a 254-nm detector and a 4-mm ×30-cm column that contains packing L1.The flow rate is about 1.5mLper minute.Chromatograph the
Standard preparationas directed for
Procedure:the capacity factor,
k¢,is 0.52for methylparaben and 1.05for propylparaben,with a minimum separation factor (
a)of about 2.0.
Procedure
Separately inject equal volumes (about 12µL)of the
Standard preparationand the
Test preparationinto the chromatograph by means of a suitable microsyringe or sampling valve,adjusting the specimen size and other operating parameters such that the peak obtained with the
Standard preparationis about 0.7full scale.Record the chromatograms,and measure the height of the peaks,at identical retention times,obtained with the
Test preparationand the
Standard preparation,and calculate the concentration in mg per mL,in the portion of methylparaben or propylparaben taken by the formula:
C(HU/HS),
in which
Cis the concentration,in mg per mL,of
USP Methylparaben RSor
USP Propylparaben RSin the
Standard preparation;and
HUand
HSare the peak heights obtained from the
Test preparationand the
Standard preparation,respectively.