DETERMINATION OF IMIDUREA IN COSMETIC PRODUCTS BY CAPILLARY ZONE ELECTROPHORESIS AND MICELLAR ELECTROKINETIC CHROMATOGRAPHY

Capillary electrophoresis has been employed for the determination of i midurea (imidazolidinyl urea) in cosmetic preparations. When dissolved in water, imidurea consists of 96.6 percent neutral species at a rela tive standard deviation (RSD) of 0.2 percent and the remaining 3.4 per cent is associated with at least twenty anionic species. In addition, the micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) has been used for th e determination of imidurea in the presence of paraben preservatives. The presence of micelles does not affect the imidurea elution profile due to the highly hydrophilic character of the imidurea species observ ed in this study. The preservatives in several commercial products hav e been identified and quantitated.