Determination of antioxidants in cosmetics by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with electrochemical detection

A new and efficient method for the determination of antioxidants [Propyl gallate (PG), tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT)] in cosmetics has been established by using micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography with electrochemical detection (MECC–ED). Under the optimum conditions of the method, all analytes were successfully separated within 13 min at the separation voltage of 18 kV in a 20 mmol/L borate running buffer (pH 7.4) containing 25 mmol/L sodium dodecyl sulfate. The excellent linearity was obtained in the concentration range from 5.0 × 10−4 to 2.0 × 10−6 mol/L and the detection limits (S/N = 3) of PG, TBHQ, BHA, and BHT range from 3 × 10−7 to 3 × 10−6 mol/L.