GDME-based methodology for the determination of free formaldehyde in cosmetics and hygiene products containing formaldehyde releasers

Formaldehyde is often applied in the industrial production of different products, such as textiles, insulation materials, or cosmetics, due to its preservative and disinfectant properties. However, formaldehyde is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as carcinogenic, and there are numerous studies about the pernicious health effects that frequent exposure to formaldehyde can pose to human health. In the cosmetic industry, compounds called formaldehyde releasers are added during production, with the intent of releasing small amounts of formaldehyde over time. Although there are many methods available for the determination of formaldehyde, they are usually not suitable for the determination of free formaldehyde in cosmetics with formaldehyde releasers in their composition, as they can promote the accelerated release of formaldehyde. In this work, the gas-diffusion microextraction (GDME) technique was used for the extraction of formaldehyde from cosmetic and personal hygiene products. Acetylacetone was used as the derivatization reagent which was later used for the spectrophotometric determination of formaldehyde. The developed methodology exhibits limits of detection (1.98mgkg(-1)) and quantification (6.60mgkg(-1)) perfectly adequate for the determination of formaldehyde in these samples. Formaldehyde values between 6.90.3 and 36515mgkg(-1) were found in samples containing the formaldehyde releasers DMDM hydantoin, Diazolidinyl urea, and Bronopol. Furthermore, mass spectrometry studies were performed in order to unbiasedly ensure the presence of formaldehyde in every extract. GDME proved to be an economical, simple, and robust alternative for the extraction of free formaldehyde in personal hygiene and cosmetic samples.