ION CHROMATOGRAPHY FOR THE ANALYSIS OF HOUSEHOLD CONSUMER PRODUCTS

Ion chromatography (IC) is an indispensable tool for the analysis of household consumer products. Items such as baking soda, laundry detergent, dental care products, mouthwash, etc., can be analyzed quickly and accurately using chemically suppressed IC, single-column ion chromatography (SCIC) or a combination of the two technologies. In USP baking soda, trace anions can be determined at ppm levels to ensure product quality and conformance to FDA regulations. In dental care products, the determination and speciation of soluble fluoride compounds will be shown, as well as the determination of the tartar control agent, pyrophosphate. The non-chromophoric sweetener, sodium cyclamate, will be determined in foreign dental care products. In liquid laundry detergents, chloride is added for viscosity control; silicate, mono-, di- and triethanolamines are added for buffering. Formate is present as an enzyme stabilizer. Citrate and laurate are added for hardness control. These species can be determined effectively in SCIC systems, as well as chemically suppressed systems. For some applications, the use of traditional SCIC columns along with chemical suppression improves detectability and simplifies sample preparation. The MilliTrap-H+ membrane cartridge will be evaluated as an aid to sample preparation.