Cetrimonium Chloride (QAC)

Agredo, Pamela, et al. Cosmetics, 2019, 6(1), 12.

This work evaluated the performance of water-in-oil emulsion systems prepared from binary mixtures of different cationic surfactants to explore the potential of these mixtures for the development of hair care formulations. The hydroxyethyl-behenamidopropyl-diammonium chloride, behentrimonium methosulphate, cetrimonium chloride, and polyquaterniumpolyquaternium-70 cationic surfactants were utilized.
Emulsion preparation procedure
· Each prototype was produced in triplicate using various combinations of binary cationic surfactants. Initially, the aqueous phases, consisting of hydroxy-ethyl-cellulose, glycerin, and ultra-pure water, were blended using a homo-mixer at 6000 rpm for 10 minutes and then heated to 80 °C (mixture 1). Simultaneously, the oily components were combined with the surfactants (mixture 2) and heated to 75 °C in a separate container.
· Subsequently, the oil phase (mixture 2) was combined with the aqueous phase (mixture 1) under agitation at 9000 rpm for 10 minutes, resulting in the formation of a white emulsion with a dense texture. The emulsions were continuously stirred at a speed of 400 rpm using a propeller-type stirrer while being heated to 40 °C, and the remaining ingredients (such as preservative and pH modifier) were added to the emulsion.
· The resulting mixture was cooled to room temperature. Subsequently, the prototypes were selected based on viscosity requirements, which necessitated a minimum viscosity of 15,000 cP. These parameters are crucial for the intrinsic organoleptic characteristics and stabilization of the products.

Jairoun, Ammar Abdulrahman, et al. Cosmetics, 2021, 8(4), 103.

Cetrimonium chloride has anti-frizz, smoothing and antistatic properties and is commonly used in the formulation of hair care products such as dyes and hair dyes. However, the content of alkyl (C12-22) trimethyl ammonium chloride in cosmetics and personal care products exceeding the recommended level poses a threat to human health. In this work, the content of cetrimonium chloride and behentrimonium chloride surfactants in 164 cosmetics was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).
Analytical method and results
· A method using GC-MS was developed and validated for analyzing Cetrimonium chloride and Behentrimonium chloride surfactants in hair products, with Sodium Dibutylnaphthalenesulfonate serving as an internal standard. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was determined to be 0.5 ng/mL with a signal-to-noise ratio above 5. The calibration curve showed linearity within the range of 0.5 to 250 ng/mL, with an R2 value surpassing 0.99. The coefficients of variation for both within- and between-assay imprecision, including LOQ, were found to be ≤ 15% and ≤ 8%, respectively. The inaccuracies for within- and between-assay, including LOQ, were ≤ 9% and ≤ 5%, respectively.
· Out of 125 tested cosmetics and personal care products, 5 (4%) had Cetrimonium chloride levels beyond the recommended limit for rinse-off hair products (2.5%), 10 (8%) exceeded the recommended level in leave-on hair products (1%), and 24 (61.5%) surpassed the recommended limit for Cetrimonium chloride when used as a preservative in cosmetics products.