The Application of Liquid Chromatography for the Analysis of Organic UV Filters in Environmental and Marine Biota Matrices

Abstract

Sunscreens are topical preparations containing one or more compounds that protect humans from ultraviolet (UV) light. This review focuses on analytical methods, particularly liquid chromatography, with the aim of identifying and determining UV filters (UVFs) in environmental and marine biota matrices. A literature review was conducted using NIH (PubMed and Medline), FDA and EPA databases, Google Scholar, and federal regulations. This retrospective literature review is focused on the last five years. UVF quantification in environmental and biological matrices showed a wide array of methods where liquid chromatography is predominant. The scientific literature identified a large variety of analytical methodologies that are compared in this review to evaluate the better results in terms of limits of quantification and the possibility to identify as many analytes as possible simultaneously.

Keywords

• UV filters
• sunscreens
• liquid chromatography
• environmental matrices
• marine biota