General Review of Published Analytical Methods for Cosmetics

A rapid and reliable size-exclusion chromatographic method for determination of kojic dipalmitate in skin-whitening cosmetic products

A size-exclusion chromatographic method has been developed to determine the relatively novel skin-whitening agent called kojic dipalmitate (KDP) in skin-whitening cosmetic products. Preliminary experiments were carried out in order to select the solvent for standard and sample solution, and also for mobile phase composition. A PLGel Mixed-D (polystyrene/divinylbenzene co-polymer) column and isocratic mobile phase of pure tetrahydrofuran (at 1.5 mL min(-1) flow rate) were used. Detection was carried out by means of an UV/vis spectrometry detector set at 248 nm. A study of interferences reveals that KDP can be determined without interferences coming from cosmetic matrices. Most other cosmetic…

A solid-phase extraction and size-exclusion liquid chromatographic method for polyethylene glycol 25 p-aminobenzoic acid determination in urine: Validation for urinary excretion studies of users of sunscreens

No previous publications about percutaneous absorption of polyethylene glycol 25 p-aminobenzoic acid (PEG-25 PABA) have been found in the literature and the expected levels to be found in human urine after sunscreens use are unknown. The method proposed here is suitable to determine PEG-25 PABA in the urine of sunscreens users in order to carry out studies on body accumulation/excretion. It is based on solid-phase extraction (SPE) with size-exclusion liquid chromatography determination. Solid-phase extraction allows the analyte to be retained and subsequently eluted for a clean-up, using a silica-based cartridge. The size-exclusion liquid chromatography of the eluted allows the rest of matr…

Analytical Methods for Actives used in General and Specific Skin-Care, Personal Hygiene and other Toiletry Products (Excluding those Mentioned in Previous Chapters)

Sequential-injection determination of traces of disodium phenyl dibenzimidazole tetrasulphonate in urine from users of sunscreens by on-line solid-phase extraction coupled with a fluorimetric detector

Abstract A sensitive and selective method to determine disodium phenyl dibenzimidazole tetrasulphonate (PDT) in the urine of sunscreen users, which is suitable for studies on body accumulation/excretion is proposed. On-line solid-phase extraction allows the analyte to be retained and subsequentely eluted, using a strong anion exchange (SAX) microcolumn. Standard addition calibration was carried out with only one standard. The wavelengths of excitation and emission were 330 and 454 nm, respectively. The method allows PDT to be determined in both, spiked and unspiked human urine samples, without any pre-treatment. Results obtained for spiked urine samples (40–200 ng ml −1 ) showed the accurac…

Environmentally friendly LC for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and its derivatives in skin-whitening cosmetics

Ascorbic acid (AA), also known as vitamin C, is a very popular skin-whitening agent used in cosmetics. However, the use of AA (and also its sodium or magnesium salts) in cosmetic products is limited owing to its labile oxidative properties. In order to avoid its early degradation, different derivatives have been designed, such as ascorbyl phosphate (APH; as magnesium or sodium salts) and ascorbyl palmitate (AP), and more recently the ascorbyl glucoside (AG). Bearing in mind that all these chemicals in skin-whitening cosmetic products must be determined in order to control the efficacy of such products, this paper focuses on developing a wide-ranging LC analytical method able to determine th…

Development of a fully automated sequential injection solid-phase extraction procedure coupled to liquid chromatography to determine free 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone and 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone-5-sulphonic acid in human urine

Abstract 2-Hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone and 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone-5-sulphonic acid, commonly known as benzophenone-3 (BZ3) and benzophenone-4 (BZ4), respectively, are substances widely used as UV filters in cosmetic products in order to absorb UV radiation and protect human skin from direct exposure to the deleterious wavelengths of sunlight. As with other UV filters, there is evidence of their percutaneous absorption. This work describes an analytical method developed to determine trace levels of free BZ3 and BZ4 in human urine. The methodology is based on a solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure for clean-up and pre-concentration, followed by the monitoring of the UV filters by…

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometric method to determine skin-whitening agents in cosmetic products.

An analytical method is proposed here to determine three allowed (kojic acid, azelaic acid and arbutin) and two forbidden (resorcinol and hydroquinone) skin-whitening agents in cosmetics. The method is based on gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometric detection, which allows the two prohibited target compounds to be identified unequivocally by means of their mass spectra acquired in full-scan mode at the retention time of these compounds. Owing to their low volatility, target analytes are derivatized using N,O-bis-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) (containing 1% trimethylchlorosylane) prior to injection into the chromatographic system. The accuracy and precision of the pr…