A fast and direct spectrophotometric method for the simultaneous determination of methyl paraben and hydroquinone in cosmetic products using successive projections algorithm.

OBJECTIVE: To develop a simple and efficient spectrophotometric technique combined with chemometrics for the simultaneous determination of methyl paraben (MP) and hydroquinone (HQ) in cosmetic products, and specifically, to: (i) evaluate the potential use of successive projections algorithm (SPA) to derivative spectrophotometric data in order to provide sufficient accuracy and model robustness and (ii) determine MP and HQ concentration in cosmetics without tedious pre-treatments such as derivatization or extraction techniques which are time-consuming and require hazardous solvents. METHODS: The absorption spectra were measured in the wavelength range of 200-350 nm. Prior to performing chemometric models, the original and first-derivative absorption spectra of binary mixtures were used as calibration matrices. Variable selected by successive projections algorithm was used to obtain multiple linear regression (MLR) models based on a small subset of wavelengths. The number of wavelengths and the starting vector were optimized, and the comparison of the root mean square error of calibration (RMSEC) and cross-validation (RMSECV) was applied to select effective wavelengths with the least collinearity and redundancy. Principal component regression (PCR) and partial least squares (PLS) were also developed for comparison. The concentrations of the calibration matrix ranged from 0.1 to 20 µg mL(-1) for MP, and from 0.1 to 25 µg mL(-1) for HQ. The constructed models were tested on an external validation data set and finally cosmetic samples. RESULTS: The results indicated that successive projections algorithm-multiple linear regression (SPA-MLR), applied on the first-derivative spectra, achieved the optimal performance for two compounds when compared with the full-spectrum PCR and PLS. The root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) was 0.083, 0.314 for MP and HQ, respectively. To verify the accuracy of the proposed method, a recovery study on real cosmetic samples was carried out with satisfactory results (84-112%). CONCLUSION: The proposed method, which is an environmentally friendly approach, using minimum amount of solvent, is a simple, fast and low-cost analysis method that can provide high accuracy and robust models. The suggested method does not need any complex extraction procedure which is time-consuming and requires hazardous solvents.

Highly selective spectrophotometric flow-injection determination of trace amounts of bromide by catalytic effect on the oxidation of m-cresolsulfonephthalein by periodate.

A new flow-injection method is reported for the determination of bromide. The method is based on catalytic effect of bromide on the oxidation of m-cresolsulfonephthalein by periodate in acidic media. The reaction was followed spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in absorbance at 528 nm. The influence of pH, reagent concentration and manifold variables on the sensitivity was studied. Under optimum conditions, a calibration graph was obtained in the range of 0.160-20.00 microg ml(-1) bromides with a limit of detection of 0.150 microg ml(-1) bromide. The relative standard deviation for ten replicate measurement of 1.0 microg ml(-1) bromide was 2.1%. The influence of potential interfering ions on the selectivity was studied. The method successes to measure bromide in the presence of other halide ions. The method was used to measure bromide in river water and tap water.

A sensitive flow-injection method for determination of trace amounts of nitrite.

A new sensitive colour reaction for nitrite determination is presented. In acidic medium, nitrite was reacted with safranine to form a diazonium salt which caused the reddish-orange dye colour of the solution to change to blue. The carrier stream, into which the sample solution was injected, was doubly distilled water. The reagent solution stream, which contained safranine dye, hydrochloric acid and potassium chloride, was mixed with the carrier in a 3-m length of silicon tubing (bore 0.5 mm) maintained at 30 degrees C in a thermostatic bath. The absorbance intensity was measured at 520 nm. The detection limit was 20 ng ml(-1) and the RSD% of 20 injections of 1 mug ml(-1) of nitrite was 0.65%. Analysis can be done at a rate of up to 30 h(-1). Under the optimum conditions in the concentration range of 30-4000 ng ml(-1) of nitrite ion, a linear calibration graph was obtained (r=0.9999). The method was applied successfully to the determination of nitrite in sausages.