Particle size and content uniformity.

The requirements of the USP Content Uniformity test are translated into physical and mathematical parameters. Assuming spherical particle sizes with a log normal distribution, the mean particle size and particle size distribution required to insure a high probability of passing the content uniformity test are calculated. On the basis of these calculations it is shown that satisfactory tablets of low doses cannot be manufactured from a drug that does not meet certain particle size distribution specifications. It is recommended that particle size specifications for low dose drugs include a requirement for a limit to size distribution.