Determination of UV stabilizers in seaweed samples from Gran Canaria Island

Abstract

Benzotriazole ultraviolet stabilizers (BUVSs) are compounds considered as an emerging concern and they are used in different personal care products, such as sunscreen lotions or makeup, and in another products like paints, plastic or detergents, to absorb ultraviolet light. These compounds have been described as bioaccumulative, persistent and mutagenic, so it is of great interest to investigate them and know their presence in the environment. Macroalgae have been used as bioindicators and biomonitors of contamination in the environment, so in this work we developed a method to identify and determine six BUVSs compounds (UV P, UV 326, UV 327, UV 328, UV 329 and UV 360) in seaweed samples based on microwave assisted extraction (MAE) and ultra-highperformance liquid chromatography with diode array detection (UHPLC-DAD). Under the optimum conditions, recoveries from 69.5 to 92.3%, limits of detection from 1.70 to 2.32 ng·g-1 dry weight (dw) and limits of quantification from 5.68 to 7.74 ng·g-1 dw were obtained for the target compounds. Intra-day and inter-day precision values were lower than 10%, except for the inter-day precision of UV 329 at 100 ng·g-1 dw. The application of the developed method allowed to detect and quantify four of the six analysed BUVSs in seaweed samples from Las Canteras beach (Gran Canaria, Spain). UV P were measured in concentrations between 733.81 and 1110.09 ng·g-1 dw in three species, UV 329 in the range 10.20-230.17 ng·g-1 dw in six species, UV 327 in one specie at 54.20 ng·g-1 dw and UV 360 in five species in the range between 16.51 and 100.99 ng·g-1 dw. In the species Dictyota dichotoma and Sargassum vulgare, three of the compounds were quantified, in consequence they could act as potential bioindicators of these compounds.