Determination of formaldehyde by HPLC-biosensor-coupling

Due to its technological, legal and toxicological relevance, the analysis o f formaldehyde in food and cosmetics is important. A high performance liqui d chromatography (HPLC) system for the determination of formaldehyde in foo d and cosmetics was developed incorporating an electrochemical detector and enzyme reactors on which formaldehyde dehydrogenase (FDH) from Pseudomonas putida and Candida boidinii and NADH oxidase (NOD) from Bacillus lichenifo rmis were immobilized. Both species of formaldehyde dehydrogenase were test ed and sensitivity and specifity of the enzymes were compared. Promising st ages were shown by the determination of formaldehyde in complex matrices li ke beverage and hand cream without an extensive sample pretreatment as dest illation or derivatization. In further studies the working stability and lo ng-term stability of the enzyme for a continuous operation under these cond itions will be tested.