Development and Validation of a Rapid Spectrofluorimetric Method for Quantification of Coal Tar in Topical Formulations

Abstract

The present research work discusses the development of a spectrofluorimetric method for the estimation of coal tar. The method is simple, accurate and cost efficient and can be routinely employed for the quality control and quantification of coal tar in topical products. The optimum conditions for the analysis of coal tar were established. The relative fluorescence intensity of coal tar was determined in cyclohexane at an excitation wavelength of 384 nm and an emission wavelength of 430 nm. The method validation was accomplished through evaluation of analytical parameters of linearity, range, accuracy, and precision, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) as per ICH guidelines. The linearity range was found to be 1 to 100 μg/mL. The LOD and LOQ were found to be 0.007 μg/mL and 0.022 μg/mL, respectively. The developed method was successfully employed to quantify the coal tar in a commercial topical product and the findings were accurate.