Validated RP-capillary HPLC-DAD method for Simultaneous analysis of some Paraben Preservatives in Pharmaceutical and Cosmetics/Personal care Formulations

A fast and sensitive RP-capillary HPLC-DAD method that allows simultaneous determination of phydroxybenzoates commonly known as parabens in personal care formulations and pharmaceuticals is described in present study. Parabens are widely used as preservatives in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and foods products. The separation was achieved on Agilent Zorbax SB C-18 narrow bore RR column using Acetonitrile: water as mobile phase. The results showed that separation is achieved for the target analytes within 10 min. The method was evaluated for analytical characteristics with respect to limit of detection, limit of quantification, linearity, interday and intraday precision, specificity, robustness and stability of standards. The calibration curves were linear with a correlation coefficient higher than 0.997 for each analyte. Relative standard deviation (%RSD) for inter and intraday precision studies were < 3.5% for all four parabens. Methyl Paraben was used as preservative in maximum formulations. The method was successfully applied to commercially available cosmetics and personal care formulations. The extraction process reported is easy and economical. The proposed method can be successfully put on board in quality control and testing laboratories.