Parabenos determination in cosmetic and personal care products Exploiting a Multi-Syringe Chromatographic (MSC) system and chemiluminescent detection

Abstract

[eng] Parabensarewidelyusedindairyproducts,suchasincosmeticsandpersonalcareproducts.Thus,inthis workamulti-syringechromatographic(MSC)systemisproposedforthe first timeforthedetermination of fourparabens:methylparaben(MP),ethylparaben(EP),propylparaben(PP)andbutylparaben(BP)in cosmetics andpersonalcareproducts,asasimpler,practical,andlowcostalternativetoHPLCmethods. Separation wasachievedusinga5mm-longprecolumnofreversedphaseC18andmulti-isocratic separation, i.e.usingtwoconsecutivemobilephases,12:88acetonitrile:waterand28:72acetonitrile: water.Theuseofamulti-syringeburetallowedtheeasyimplementationofchemiluminescent(CL) detection afterseparation.ThechemiluminescentdetectionisbasedonthereductionofCe(IV)by p-hydroxybenzoicacid,productoftheacidhydrolysisofparabens,toexciterhodamine6G(Rho6G)and measure theresultinglightemission.Multivariatedesignscombinedwiththeconceptsofmultiple response treatmentsanddesirabilityfunctionshavebeenemployedtosimultaneouslyoptimizeand evaluatetheresponses.Theoptimizedmethodhasprovedtobesensitiveandprecise,obtaininglimitsof detection between20and40 mg L 1 and RSD o4.9% inallcases.Themethodwassatisfactorilyapplied to cosmeticsandpersonalcareproducts,obtainingnosignificant differencesataconfidence levelof95% comparing withtheHPLCreferencemethod.