Determination of formaldehyde in hair creams by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Abstract

The perfume and cosmetics industry are one of outstanding industrial sectors in Brazil. With an average annual growth of 11% over the last ten years, Brazil has achieved third place in the world ranking for consumption of cosmetics. Hair products are amongst the most consumed cosmetics and the market is growing every day. The active ingredients in hair straightening creams vary according to the product and usually include glutaraldehyde, sodium hydroxide, calcium hydroxide, formaldehyde, pyrogallol, thioglycolic acid, and others. Currently, the most widely used chemical compound in hair products to alter the protein structure of hair to affect smoothing is formaldehyde. Four international research institutions have assessed the carcinogenic potential of formaldehyde: the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US National Toxicology Program, and the Occupational Safety and Health Association (OSHA). These studies demonstrated that exposure to formaldehyde can cause cancer of the pharynx and nasopharynx, increase the chance of pneumonia, dermatitis and induce allergic reactions (irritation of eyes, nose and throat, insomnia, chest pains, rashes, asthma attacks, among others). In 2001, the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), which is a branch of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, issued a resolution to control the use of formaldehyde, restricting it to a concentration of up to 0.2 % in cosmetics. However, the maximum (and safe) amount of formaldehyde (0.2%) permitted in cosmetic formulations is insufficient to produce straightened hair and in addition, is a health violation. Hair products for children have been identified for the presence of formaldehyde thus highlighting the importance for regulatory control in the cosmetic industry. The literature discusses somemethodologies and techniques for the analysis of formaldehyde in various samples such as blood, food samples, air, and cosmetics amongst others. Techniques such as spectrophotometry, capillary electrophoresis, and electrochemistry were used to determine formaldehyde. However, most of these techniques involve a series of tedious and labour-intensive extraction steps and they also suffer from low limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ). High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the most widely applied method for the determination of formaldehyde. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is a versatile analytical technique and attempts have been made to apply GC-MS to the determination of formaldehyde with limited success. Unfortunately, the thermal instability makes direct quantification of formaldehyde by