Cosmetic products, as heterogeneous liquid samples possessing
high viscosities, are widely used by large populations. Fast detection of trace compounds such as illicit sunscreen agents in cosmetic
products is urgently required, due to necessary multi-step time
consuming sample pretreatments required by traditional analytical
techniques. In the study present, using a sealed geometry independent neutral desorption device (GIND), the analytes were liberated
from the matrices, efficiently collected and further transferred for
post extractive ionization in a home-made EESI source, without significant loss of the targeted analytes. The illicit sunscreen materials
were thereby rapidly detected and identified by tandem mass spectrometry, without requiring any sample pretreatment. For most compounds tested, this method provided acceptable detection limits at sub-ppb range, and reasonable RSD values about 6.8–11.4%.
The signals detected linearly responded to the concentrations of
the illicit additives in the cosmetic product samples, showing the
capability of this method for quantitative analysis. The analysis
speed has been improved, and the analysis of 2 samples was com
pleted within 1 min. The experimental data demonstrate that GIND
EESI-MS developed here is an attractive analytical tool for high
throughput analysis of highly viscous samples, including but not
limited to cosmetic products, with high sensitivity, quantitative and
quantitative information.