Selective Analysis of Progesterone in Cosmetic Samples Based on Molecularly Imprinted Solid-Phase Extraction and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract The illegal addition of progesterone to cosmetics could cause serious adverse reactions and pose a serious threat to human health. In this work, a simple, fast and sensitive method was developed by combining molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography (MISPE–HPLC) for the selective determination of progesterone in cosmetics. Chitosan-modified silica is used as the carrier to provide binding sites for the effective conjugation of the target. The obtained molecularly imprinted polymers exhibited excellent adsorption capacity (36.2 mg·g−1), good selectivity and fast mass transfer rate for progesterone. Meanwhile, the prepared MISPE column could eliminate the interference of co-existing substances. Combined MISPE with HPLC, a selective and effective method for detecting progesterone in different cosmetics was achieved. Under the optimum conditions, the established MISPE–HPLC method was successfully used for the detection of progesterone in real samples. The linear range of this method was 1 to 200 μg·mL−1 with a limit of detection of 0.016 μg·mL−1. Therefore, this method could be used for the selective and effective detection of progesterone in different cosmetic samples with complex substrates. We provided an alternative method for the detection of illegal additions in cosmetics.