Determination of 1,4-dioxane in cosmetic products by high-performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

A rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic procedure has been developed for the assay of 1,4-dioxane in cosmetic products. After solid-phase extraction, using Bond Elut CN and Bond Elut C₁₈ cartridges, samples were analysed directly on a LiChrospher CH-8 reversed-phase column with spectrophotometric detection at 200 nm and acetonitrile-water as eluent. Recovery of 1,4-dioxane from different cosmetic matrices was between 81.5 and 90.1% in the 30–90 µg g^–1 range. The minimum quantifiable amount was 6.5 µg g^–1. The method is simple, reproducible and specific and is suitable for routine analyses of commercial cosmetics.