Cleaning level acceptance criteria and HPLC-DAD method validation for the determination of Nabumetone residues on manufacturing equipment using swab sampling

Prevention of cross contamination with active pharmaceutical ingredients is crucial and requires special attention in pharmaceutical industries. Current method validation describes the determination of Nabumetone (NAB) residue on a stainless steel surface using swab sampling with a sensitive HPLC-DAD analysis. The acceptance limit was decided as 2 μg swab per 100 cm2. Cotton swabs impregnated with extraction solution were used to determine residual drug content. Recoveries were 90.88%, 91.42%, and 92. 21% with RSD ranging from 2.2% to 3.88% at three concentration levels. Residual concentration was found to be linear in the range of 0.1–4.56 μg/mL, when estimated using a Phenomenex Luna C18 (25 cm×5 μm×4.6 mm i.d.) column at 1.0 mL/min flow rate and 230 nm. The mobile phase consisted of a mixture of methanol:acetonitrile:water (55:30:15, v/v/v). The LOD and LOQ for NAB were found to be 0.05 and 0.16 μg/mL, respectively. The validated method was found to be simple, selective and sensitive for demonstration of cleaning validation of NAB residues on a stainless steel surface.