The FDA initiated a cross-sectional, statistically based sampling and testing study to characterize the quality of marketed alcohol-based hand sanitizer (ABHS) by evaluating the alcohol content and impurities present in ABHS products manufactured by establishments that registered with the FDA during March-April 2020. A stratified sampling design divided the population of manufacturers into independent groups based on each establishment's level of experience with FDA oversight and its geographic location. ABHS products were collected and analyzed by spatially offset Raman spectroscopy and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWith the discovery of carcinogenic nitrosamine impurities in pharmaceuticals in 2018 and subsequent regulatory requirements for risk assessment for nitrosamine formation during pharmaceutical manufacturing processes, storage or from contaminated supply chains, effective testing of nitrosamines has become essential to ensure the quality of drug substances and products. Mass spectrometry has been widely applied to detect and quantify trace amounts of nitrosamines in pharmaceuticals. As part of an effort by regulatory authorities to assess the measurement variation in the determination of nitrosamines, an inter-laboratory study was performed by the laboratories from six regulatory agencies with each of the participants using their own analytical procedures to determine the amounts of nitrosamines in a set of identical samples.
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