Determination of bergapten and citropten in perfumes and suntan cosmetics by high-performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence

Many furocoumarins found in several species of plant are potent photosensitizing agents, known to have lethal and mutagenic effects. Bergapten (5-MOP) is the major consituent of bergamot oil, widely used in the formulation of perfumes and suntan cosmetics. After exposure to the UVA radiation in sunlight 5-MOP stimulates melanin deposition, as occurs in the natural suntanning process. Citropten or 5,7-dimethoxycoumarin (DMC) is found naturally in several citrus oils, including oils of bergamot, lime and lemon in concentrations varying from 0.46 to 0.053%. A procedure is presented here for a rapid and routine analysis of 5-MOP and DMC in various cosmetics, based on HPLC separation and subsequent fluorimetric detection by Latz and Ernes. Several randomly selected commercial products such as perfumes, eau de toilette, after-shave and suntan lotions with different degrees of protection were analyzed by a modified external standardization.