A simple and highly selective molecular imprinting polymer-based methodology for propylparaben monitoring in personal care products and industrial waste waters

VICARIO, ANA; ARAGÓN, LESLIE; WANG, CHIEN C.; BERTOLINO, FRANCO; GOMEZ, MARÍA R.

JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL AND BIOMEDICAL ANALYSIS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2018 vol. 149 p. 225 - 233

0731-7085

tIn this work, a novel molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) proposed as solid phase extraction sorbent wasdeveloped for the determination of propylparaben (PP) in diverse cosmetic samples. The use of parabens(PAs) is authorized by regulatory agencies as microbiological preservative; however, recently severalstudies claim that large-scale use of these preservatives can be a potential health risk and harmful to theenvironment.Diverse factors that influence on polymer synthesis were studied, including template, functionalmonomer, porogen and crosslinker used. Morphological characterization of the MIP was performed usingSEM and BET analysis. Parameters affecting the molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction (MISPE)and elution efficiency of PP were evaluated. After sample clean-up, the analyte was analyzed by highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The whole procedure was validated, showing satisfactoryanalytical parameters. After applying the MISPE methodology, the extraction recoveries were always bet-ter than 86.15%; the obtained precision expressed as RSD% was always lower than 2.19 for the correctedpeak areas. Good linear relationship was obtained within the range 8?500 ng mL−1of PP, r2= 0.99985.Lower limits of detection and quantification after MISPE procedure of 2.4 and 8 ng mL−1, respectivelywere reached, in comparison with previously reported methodologies. The development of MISPE-HPLCmethodology provided a simple an economic way for accomplishing a clean-up/preconcentration stepand the subsequent determination of PP in a complex matrix. The performance of the proposed methodwas compared against C-18 and silica solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges. The recovery factorsobtained after applying extraction methods were 96.6, 64.8 and 0.79 for MISPE, C18-SPE and silica-SPEprocedures, respectively. The proposed methodology improves the retention capability of SPE materialplus robustness and possibility of reutilization, enabling it to be used for PP routine monitoring in diversepersonal care products (PCP) and environmental samples.