Resumen de Spectroscopic Determination of Triclosan Concentration in a Series of Antibacterial Soaps: A First-Year Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment
The antibacterial chemical triclosan is a common component in personal care products but recently the subject of many reports concerning environmental toxicity and health impacts. Although triclosan concentration in a soap can be determined simply via high-performance liquid chromatography, this is a technique not routinely available in the general chemistry laboratory. Here we report an experiment, suitable for the first-year undergraduate laboratory, to determine the percentage of triclosan in a series of antibacterial soaps using UV�vis spectroscopy following conversion of the triclosan to an azo-dye through reaction with nitrite and 4-sulfanilic acid. Additional experiments that build on this and look at either triclosan removal from solution or the impact of triclosan on a biological system are also discussed. Although designed for first-year undergraduate students, this laboratory is also adaptable to science outreach programs.
