Primary microplastics in cosmetics: experience in isolation and spectral analysis

Abstract

Eight samples of personal care and cosmetic products (PCCPs) present on the market were analyzed to isolate and characterize intentionally added polymer particles. In four of them, particles of synthetic polymers (microplastics, MP) were confidently detected. Among various types of PCCPs, the most abundant MP sources were glitter gels and hand cleaning pastes. It was shown that the combination of FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, the most widely used approach for MP identification, is not always sufficient for confident detecting and distinguishing synthetic polymers in the products considered. The use of independent methods (solubility tests and DSC thermal analysis) allowed us to achieve additional important information and avoid incorrect conclusions on microplastics presence in PCCPs. DSC thermal analysis was shown to be particularly useful in the cases where combination of spectroscopic methods was inefficient in MP identification.