Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences Vol 19 No 4 (2015): 824 - 830

 

 

 

ASSESSMENT ON HYROQUINONE IN SELECTED COSMETIC CREAM AND TONER VIA HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY AND ULTRA-VIOLET VISIBLE DETECTOR SPECTROMETRY

 

(Pengukuran Kandungan Hydroquinone di dalam Krim Kosmetik dan Penyegar Muka yang Terpilih Menggunakan Kromatografi Cecair Tekanan Tinggi dan Spektrometri Detektor Ultra-Violet Sinar Tampak)

 

Nurul Wihdah Mohd Zukepli¹, Wan Siti Atikah Wan Omar²*, Siti Raihan Zakaria¹

 

¹Department of Chemistry,

 ²Department of Biology,

Faculty of Applied Sciences,

Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang, 26400 Bandar Tun Razak Jengka, Pahang, Malaysia

 

*Corresponding author: atikah_bio@pahang.uitm.edu.my

 

 

Received: 23 November 2014; Accepted: 27 June 2015

 

 

Abstract

Hydroquinone (HQ) is a whitening component in many cosmetic products, but only allowable at a very low concentration. The abuse of HQ will damage the skin and the sensitive area on the face. Due to this, many countries including Malaysia prohibited the use of HQ. However, the increasing number of whitening products in the market makes HQ suspiciously available. Thus, in this study, two quantitative methods of determining the HQ concentration were used. They were namely High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Ultra-Violet Visible Detector Spectrometry (UVDS). In the HPLC analysis, three types of mobile phase were used to separate three types of whitening products. The best mobile phase ratio was 20:80 v/v (methanol: water) due to the sharp peak of HQ and acceptable retention time (5.3 min). From the UVDS analysis, the measured HQ was found comparable to the HPLC results. Both methods were able to detect HQ lower than the permissible concentration. The HQ was also found to be stable for analysis in the same day and different days.

 

Keywords: cosmetic, HPLC, hydroquinone, UVDS, whitening

 

Abstrak

Hidrokuinon (HQ) adalah komponen pemutih di dalam produk kosmetik tetapi hanya dibenarkan pada kepekatan yang sangat rendah. Penyalahgunaan HQ akan merosakkan kulit dan kawasan sensitif di bahagian muka. Sehubungan dengan ini, banyak negara termasuk Malaysia telah mengharamkan penggunaan HQ.  Walaubagaimana pun, peningkatan jumlah produk pemutih di pasaran membuatkan kecurigaan kandungan HQ. Selaras, di dalam kajian ini, dua kaedah kuantitatif dalam mengesan kandungan HQ telah digunakan. Kaedah yang dimaksudkan adalah Kromatografi Cecair Tekanan Tinggi (HPLC) dan Spektrometri Detektor Ultra-Violet Sinar Tampak (UVDS). Di dalam analisis HPLC, tiga jenis fasa gerak telah digunakan untuk mengasingkan tiga jenis produk pemutih. Fasa gerak terbaik adalah 20: 80 v/v (metanol: air) disebabkan oleh puncak  HQ yang tajam dan waktu retensi yang boleh diterima (5.3 min). Daripada analisis UVDS, pengiraan HQ adalah setanding dengan keputusan HPLC. Kedua-dua kaedah mampu untuk mengesan HQ pada kepekatan yang dibenarkan. Analisis HQ juga didapati stabil pada hari yang sama dan hari berbeza.   

 

Kata kunci: kosmetik, HPLC, hidrokuinon, UVDS, pemutih

 

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