The determination of antihistamines based on the measurement of the critical micelle concentration (c.m.c.) of mixed sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-antihistamine aggregates is proposed. The dye Coomassie Brilliant Blue G (CBBG) was used as a photometric probe for the rapid determination of c.m.c.s. The micellar properties of these drugs permitted the determination of diphenhydramine, antazoline, tripelennamine, diphenylpyraline and clemizole at the micron level with detection limits ranging between 0.1 and 0.7 microns. Hence the proposed method surpassed existing alternative photometric methods used routinely in the quality control of these drugs in sensitivity and featured similar detection limits to fluorimetric methods. The relative standard deviation for 6 micron diphenhydramine was 3.7%. The method was applied to the determination of these drugs in pharmaceutical preparations (solutions, capsules, creams and pills). which were analyzed directly after dissolution of the samples in distilled water.
