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Introduction
The cleaning products industry is amulti-billion dollar industry.
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The average consumer
uses awide range of products to promote both personal and public heath. Of the prod-
ucts used in one’s home, there are several basic categories: personal cleansing, laundry,
dishwashing, and household cleaning. These products are designed to improve personal
hygiene, reduce levels ofmicroorganisms, and improve personal appearance.
Aswith all consumer products, there is a need to test both final products and rawmate-
rials. This helps to ensure consistent product performance, aswell as personal and envi-
ronmental safety. Quantifying individual components also is useful for optimizing the
manufacturing process, for determining product shelf life, and for comparing competi-
tive products.
Chromatographic techniques such as gas chromatography (GC) and high pressure liquid
chromatography (HPLC) are powerful tools in the analysis of cleaning and personal
care products. In this technical guide, we explore howGC andHPLC can be used to
quantify components of these important products. For GC assays, general detectors,
such as the flame ionization detector (FID), ormore information-rich detectors, such as
themass spectrometer (MS), can be used. GC/MS is particularly useful for analyzing
complex formulations, such as fragrance blends, and for identifying unknown compo-
nents or contaminants. HPLC is applicable to awide range of personal care product
ingredients, such as antimicrobial agents, preservatives, and some surfactants. In gener-
al, UV-visible or light-scattering detectors can be used.
Product Types
Cleaning and personal care products can
be categorized in a number of ways. The
Soap andDetergentAssociation (SDA)
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groups soaps and detergents into four
general categories: personal cleansing,
laundry, dishwashing, and household
cleansing. Personal cleansing products
include liquid and bar soaps, and heavy
duty cleaners. Laundry detergents and
laundry cleaning aids can be purchased
in a variety of forms: powders, gels, liq-
uids, sprays, and sheets. In addition to
dirt and stain removal, they are used to
bleach, soften, and freshen laundry.
Dishwashing products also aremarketed
in a variety of forms: liquids, gels, and
powders.Although they fall within the
same category, hand dishwashing deter-
gents and automatic dishwashing deter-
gents generally have different formula-
tions, as conditions for their use are quite
different.
Household cleaners include awide vari-
ety of products, as no single product will
workwell on all surfaces and soils.All-
purpose cleaners are intended for general
use, and can be used on a variety of sur-
faces, including various combinations of
plastic, paint, metal, porcelain, glass, and
wood. Specialty cleaners, formore spe-
cific applications, include products for
glass, tubs and tile, ovens, toilet bowls,
Index:
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Product Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Basic Ingredients inCleaning and
Personal Care Products. . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Surfactants andBuilders . . . . . . . . 2
Solvents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Acids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Alkalis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
AntimicrobialAgents . . . . . . . . . . 7
Preservatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Fragrances&Colorants. . . . . . . . 10
Miscellaneous Ingredients . . . . . . 11
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Product Listing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
HPLCColumns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
HPLCGuardColumn Systems . . 13
GCColumns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Analytical ReferenceMaterials . . 15
or rugs and upholstery.Abrasive cleaners
contain small mineral ormetal particles
for removing heavy soil loads from small
areas. For unclogging kitchen and bath-
room drains, drain openers incorporate
caustic ingredients that generate heat to
melt fatty deposits and chemicals that
oxidize soil deposits.
In addition to these cleaning products, a
wide range of products promote personal
hygiene: deodorants, mouthwashes, oral
hygiene products, moisturizing lotions,
andmore. These products contain ingre-
dients to cleanse, disinfect, deodorize,
moisturize, and/or scent the user.
Basic Ingredients in Cleaning and
Personal Care Products
Surfactants andBuilders
Themajor components of cleaning prod-
ucts are surfactants and builders.
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Surfactants (surface active agents) are
used to reduce the surface tension of
water, enabling the cleaning solution to
more efficientlywet the surface to be
cleaned.Without the surfactant, water's
high surface tension causes it to bead on
a surface, and cleaning ismuchmore dif-
ficult. In addition, surfactants emulsify
oils and other soils, and hold them in
solution so they can be rinsed away.
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