Parabens are used as antibacterial agents in many cosmetics. Many countries around the world limit or ban their use. Students will examine how HPLC can be used to determine the presence, identity and quantity of parabens present in a variety of commercially available cosmetics.
Program objectives:
- Accurately transferring liquids using a micropipette.
- Accurately preparing standards to be used to construct a calibration curve.
- Preparing dilutions to perform HPLC analysis of different health and beauty products samples.
- Using retention times to correctly identify the correct peak from the HPLC results.
Curriculum links:
VCE Chemistry Unit 4: Area of Study 2Industry links:
Southern Biological has provided input into program creation. Ongoing volunteer support of Peter Ball our resident scientist is highly valued.Analytical chemistry
Cosmetics and personal care
Regulatory compliance and quality assurance testing
Public health policy consultation