A Simple and Sensitive Gas Chromatographic-Tandem Mass Spectrometric Method for the Determination of Cantharidin in Cosmetic Products

The analysis of cantharidin, a potent antitumor yet highly toxic chemical, is reported in this article. In regions including the United States, Europe, and China, cantharidin is either a banned ingredient or being highly regulated in cosmetic products. In this article, a gas chromatographic-tandem mass spectrometric (GC-MS/MS) method has been established for the determination of cantharidin in cosmetic products. Cosmetic samples were divided into two groups according to whether they contained aqueous ethanol or not. Samples containing aqueous ethanol in the formulation were dried under an air flow prior to extraction by methanol. The multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode with the parent ion at m/z 128 and the product ions at m/z 55 and 85 was employed. The linear range covered from 0.1 to 30.00 mu g mL(-1) (R = 0.9996) for cantharidin. The detection limit (LOD) was 0.3 mu g kg(-1). The intraday and between-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) were <8.7%. The mean recoveries were within the range 101.5-110.5%. The developed GC-MS/MS method was applied on 12 commercial cosmetic product samples, and is shown to be simple and sensitive and can be used for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of cantharidin in cosmetic products.