Performance Characteristics of Methods of Analysis Used for Regulatory Purposes. I. Drug Dosage Forms. B. Gas Chromatographic Methods
Abstract Gas chromatographic methods for the analysis of drug dosage forms consist of a simple extraction, dilution with an internal standard solution, and injection, or, even simpler, dilution with the internal standard solution and injection. These methods were used in 7 collaborative studies of the determination of 12 pharmaceuticals, published in the Journal of the AOAC during 1973–1983. A total of 43 individual materials consisting of various dosage forms were each analyzed, usually in duplicate, by an average of 8 laboratories, with a total of 582 reported determinations. The average within-laboratory coefficient of variation (CVo) was 1.25% and the average among-laboratories coefficient of variation (CVx) was 2.41%, for a CVo/CVx ratio of 0.52, at an average outlier rate of 1.4% of the reported values. The line of best fit for CVx plotted against concentration increases with decreasing concentration, extending from a CVx of approximately 1.8% at 100% concentration to a CVx of approximately 3.2% at 1% concentration. The change in CVx for a 10-fold decrease in concentration is approximately 0.7% CVx, independent of analyte and matrix.