Determination of Microbeads from Paste in Some Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products

Since the study of microplastics has only emerged in the last few years, there is a gap in research in terms of the analysis and quantification of microplastics in cosmetic pastes. Consequently, the main aim of this project was to develop an optimal analytical method for the separation and quantification of microbeads from cosmetic pastes in order to address this emerging global issue. Liquid solid extraction of microplastics from cosmetic paste through filtration under vacuum was implemented. And quantification with standard addition and characterisation via infrared spectroscopy and light microscopy were used. Optimal extraction conditions were established which consists of boiled distilled water and vacuum filtration using Büchner funnel of 125 mm diameter. Recovery from different pastes had 94.64 %, 85.09 % and 92.30 % microbead recovery which indicated that the extraction method proved to be efficient. Repeatability was found to be supportive of findings. The microbeads were analysed under light microscopy where it was established that the microplastics extracted from the cosmetic pastes were smaller than 1 mm in size. An ideal method was developed for the extraction and quantification of microbeads from pastes. From this research project it was also deduced that paste matrix affects the recovery of microbeads from the product. Thus, standard addition approach must be carried out for each paste for quantification with high trueness.