Different Approaches Based on Solid-phase Microextraction for the Determination of Personal Care Products

Abstract

Personal care products (PCPs) are a diverse group of household chemical compounds employed for beauty, health, and cleaning purposes. After their use, a significant amount of these products goes down the drain and large quantities enter the environment daily due to their incomplete removal in wastewater treatment plants. In the environment, they are considered pollutants of emerging concern, and many efforts are being made to develop methodologies enabling their determination at trace levels. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a well-established green solvent free extraction technique with a large number of applications in different fields. In this chapter, some pioneering and/or innovative SPME methodologies and applications for the determination of PCPs in different environment compartments (water, solid matrices, and air), mainly developed by our research group, as well as in cosmetic samples, are presented. In addition, the potential of SPME in accomplishing photodegradation studies is shown.