Investigation of personal care products by spectroscopic and chromatographic methods

In this study, qualitative and quantitative determination of heavy metal and polyethylene glycol (PEG) microplastic in personal care products was carried out using spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. Personal care products from fourteen commercially available brands were first subjected to open-system acid digestion. Then, copper (Cu) analysis with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometry (ET AAS) and lithium (Li) analysis with flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (F AAS) were performed. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0,02 µg/L and 0,03 mg/L for copper and lithium, respectively. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0,06 µg/L and 0,09 mg/L for copper and lithium, respectively. In the analysis performed with ET AAS, copper amounts were calculated in the range of 0,21 – 0,65 µg/g. In lithium analyses with A AAS, the results for all samples were found to be below the limit of quantification (Keyword: Kozmetikler = Cosmetics ; Metaller = Metals ; Mikroplastik = Mikroplastic ; Spektroskopi = Spectroscopy ; Yeşil kimya = Green chemistry