title: Determination of methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone in cosmetic products by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: Isothiazolinone biocides are broad-spectrum preservatives that are widely used in cosmetics, household, and industrial products. An increase in the number of cases of allergic contact dermatitis to isothiazolinone preservatives, namely, methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone, have been recently noticed. The Food and Drug Administration relies on analytical methods to quantify levels of use of cosmetic ingredients and support enforcement action against products that are not in compliance with the law. In this study, an efficient ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the determination of methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone in selected cosmetic products. The lower limit of quantitation was determined to be 0.1 μg/g for both preservatives. A survey of 24 cosmetic products was conducted and found concentrations of methylisothiazolinone and methylchloroisothiazolinone ranging from not quantified, or below the lower limit of quantitation, to 89.64 μg/g and not quantified to 10.31 μg/g, respectively.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Wittenberg
authors.affiliation: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Canas
authors.affiliation: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Wanlong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Perry G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rua
authors.affiliation: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Krynitsky
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D003358:Cosmetics; D057230:Limit of Detection; D011310:Preservatives, Pharmaceutical / Q000032:analysis; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D013844:Thiazoles / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D003358:Cosmetics; D011310:Preservatives, Pharmaceutical; D013844:Thiazoles; C011506:2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one; C011421:5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one
keywords: Cosmetics; Methylchloroisothiazolinone; Methylisothiazolinone; Preservatives