title: Assay of common sunscreen agents in suncare products by high-performance liquid chromatography on a cyanopropyl-bonded silica column.
abstract: A rapid high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the simultaneous assay of eight of the most common sunscreen agents (octyl-methoxycinnamate, oxybenzone, butyl-methoxydibenzoylmethane, octyl-salicilate, methylbenzylidene camphor, octyl-dimethylamminobenzoate, phenylbenzimidazole sulphonic acid and octocrylene) in sun protection products. Evaluation of the influence of different stationary phases and eluents on the separation selectivity showed that optimal resolution was obtained on a cyanopropyl-silica column eluted with methanol-acetonitrile-tetrahydrofuran-aqueous acetic acid. A small adjustment of the proposed chromatographic system (reduction in the aqueous content of the mobile phase) permitted also the determination of the extremely hydrophobic UV filter, methylene bis-benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol along with three other sunscreen agents, octyl-methoxycinnamate, oxybenzone, butyl-methoxydibenzoylmethane. Recoveries of the UV filters from the spiked formulation were between 95.7 and 103.7% and the precision of the method was better than 6.1% relative standard deviation. The developed HPLC procedure is suitable for quality control and photostability analyses of commercial suncare products.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Università di Ferrara, via Fossato di Mortara 17, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Simeoni
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tursilli
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: Santo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scalia
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry*; D013473:Sunscreening Agents / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004655:Emulsions; D013473:Sunscreening Agents; D012822:Silicon Dioxide