A new validated HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of 2-phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, ethylparaben and propylparaben in a pharmaceutical gel

A novel reversed-phase HPLC method has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 2-phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, ethylparaben and propylparaben preservatives. The method uses a Lichrosorb C8 (150×4.6 mm, 5 µm) column and isocratic elution. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of acetonitrile, tetrahydrofuran and water (21:13:66, v/v/v), pumped at a flow rate of 1 ml/min. The UV detection was set at 258 nm. The method was validated with respect to accuracy, precision (repeatability and intermediate precision), specificity, linearity and range. All the parameters examined met the current recommendations for bioanalytical method validation. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of commercially available pharmaceutical gel products for these preservatives. The procedure describes here is simple, selective and reliable for routine quality control analysis and stability tests.