Size exclusion chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection as a method for speciation analysis of polydimethylsiloxanes. III. Identification and determination of dimeticone and simeticone in pharmaceutical formulations

Abstract The pharmaceutical industry is one of the more important sectors for the use of polydimethylsiloxanes (PDMS), which belong to the organosilicon polymers. In drugs for internal use, they are used as an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) called dimeticone or simeticone. Due to their specific chemical nature, PDMS can have different degrees of polymerization, which determine the molecular weight and viscosity. The Pharmacopoeial monographs for dimeticone and simeticone, only give the permitted polymerization and viscosity range. It is, however, essential to know also the degree of polymerization or the specific molecular weight of PDMS that are present in pharmaceutical formulations. In the literature there is information about the impact of particle size, and thus molecular weight, on the toxicity, absorption and migration in living organisms. This study focused on the use of a developed method – the exclusion chromatography with evaporative light scattering detector (SEC-ELSD) – for identification and determination of dimeticone and simeticone in various pharmaceutical formulations. The method had a high degree of specificity and was suitable for speciation analysis of these polymers. So far the developed method has not been used in the control of medicinal products containing dimeticone or simeticone.