Determination of antioxidants and preservatives in cosmetics by SPME combined with GC-MS

A rapid and simple procedure for the determination of antioxidants and preservatives in cosmetics has been developed utilizing solid-phase microextraction combined with GC-MS. A silica fiber coated with polyacrylate provided the highest extraction efficiency. Detection limits in the range from 0.4 to 8.5 ng mL(-1) were obtained. Linearity is over a wide range from 1 to 2,000 ng mL(-1) with a relative standard deviation under 16%. Cosmetic from a local supermarket were analysed for antioxidants and preservatives to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. The concentration of antioxidants and preservatives determined was 20-1,218 mu g g(-1) for methylparaben and 5-3,779 mu g g(-1) for propylparaben.