Determination of Hydroquinone Content in Whitening Toner Sold in Online Market Place X by Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)

Abstract

Hydroquinone is often misused in cosmetic formulations as a whitener. According to the Badan Pengawas Obat dan Makanan/BPOM (Food and Drug Administration of Indonesia) regulation No. 23 of 2019, the content of hazardous substances and dyes such as hydroquinone is prohibited for use in cosmetics except for artificial nail preparations. This study aimed to determine the hydroquinone content in facial whitening toners sold in the X online marketplace using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This research is descriptive and non-experimental, and 15 toner samples were taken at online marketplace X with a purposive sampling method. Qualitative analysis was carried out by organoleptic and colour tests. Quantitative analysis on whitening toner was performed using the reverse phase HPLC method. The detection wavelength of 295 nm was applied, and a linear regression formula of y = 42.799x – 8.2248 with r = 0.9996 was obtained. Analytical method validation has been successfully executed and resulted in the resolution value of Rs 4.042, recovery percentage of 96.99%, RSD value of 0.801%, LOD and LOQ values of 0.7 ppm and 33.45 ppm, respectively. Hence, it can be stated that the RP-HPLC method was specific, accurate, and sensitive. The quantitative analysis test results showed that 8 out of 15 samples contained hydroquinone with an average concentration in sample T2 obtained 0.36499%, T4 0.35248%, T6 0.01253%, T7 0.35271%, T8 0.00371%, T9 0.00516%, T12 0.00272% and T13 0.00272%. According to the research data, it can be concluded that the hydroquinone content used in the whitening toner samples does not meet the BPOM requirements.