1,4 Dioxane & Formadehyde

[pidluk]

Team,
I am looking for a method for detecting 1,4 Dioxane and Formaldehyde in surfactant based products i.e shampoos , bodywashes etc. The finished goods have to show 0 detection limits just wondering if anyone has been down this road and can help me.

[bisnettrj2]

A detection limit of zero? Really?

[rwang]

You're probably better off looking for a GC method, given that you are analysing volatile compounds. As for a detection limit of ZERO, I don't think it's practically possible

[pidluk]

I understand zero is hard maybe i misrepesented, here is the deal our product was sent to a third party lab and it claimed it detected 2.4ppm 1,4 dioxane . I need to find an in house method to check for 1,4 dioxane, what the requirements are by China, Japan in thier products are 0 tolerance.
We sent it to another lab and results weer 1.5ppm so what i am requiring is if there is method and it detects 1,4 dioxane and i know what the reults are in ppm then i know my lab samples are useless and reject those and move on to improving the formulation.

[Consumer Products Guy]

The finished goods have to show 0 detection limits just wondering if anyone has been down this road and can help me.

Sounds like your management or QA function has no science background if they don't understand that there is no "zero", just something below detection or quantitation limits. Congratulations.

I am looking for a method for detecting 1,4 Dioxane and Formaldehyde in surfactant based products i.e shampoos , bodywashes etc.

As someone who has been down this exact same path every few years, I'll state that headspace GCMS is the best way for 1,4-dioxane. Any product containing nonionic surfactants (essentially all surfactant-based products) will contain some 1.4-dioxane. Some shoots the hope for zero out the window.

For trace formaldehyde, I'd recommend 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine derivatives and HPLC. Here again, you'll likely never see zero, as so many raw materials and/or surfactant materials contain formaldehyde or its precursers, as can things like plywood, adhesives. Good luck, this could be a lifetime project.