Forensic Investigation of Formaldehyde in Illicit Products for Hair Treatment by DAD‐HPLC: A Case Study

The illegal use of formalin (commercial formaldehyde) in cosmetic products harms the health of individuals exposed to this substance. Over the last years, the commercial availability of these products, especially those containing irregular dosage of formaldehyde, has increased in Brazil. This work a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forensic sciences 2016-07, Vol.61 (4), p.1122-1125
Main Authors: Oiye, Erica N., Ribeiro, Maria Fernanda M., Okumura, Leonardo L., Saczk, Adelir A., Ciancaglini, Pietro, Oliveira, Marcelo F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
2,4‐dinitrophenylhydrazine
Aldehydes
forensic chemistry
forensic science
Forensic sciences
formaldehyde
Hair preparations
hair straightening
high‐performance liquid chromatography
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Summary:The illegal use of formalin (commercial formaldehyde) in cosmetic products harms the health of individuals exposed to this substance. Over the last years, the commercial availability of these products, especially those containing irregular dosage of formaldehyde, has increased in Brazil. This work analyzes some products for hair treatment available in the Brazilian market and verifies their safety. The adopted analytical methodology involved sample derivatization with 2,4‐dinitrophenylhydrazine, followed by high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (UV–VIS) at λ = 365 nm. The limit of quantification is 2.5 × 10−3% w/w, and the recovery tests were around 93%. Some of the samples contained high and illegal formaldehyde levels ranging from 9% to 19% (w/w) and others presented suitable concentrations of the analyte. On the basis of the results, this work discusses the efficiency and practicality of this analytical method for forensic purposes.
ISSN:0022-1198
1556-4029
DOI:10.1111/1556-4029.13068