Chemical analysis of hydroquinone and retinoic acid contents in facial whitening creams

Hydroquinone is potentially carcinogenic and is known to be a skin and respiratory irritant.Hydroquinone is carcinogenic it has been banned in some countries because of fears of a cancer risk[1,2].Animal studies have shown that topically applied retinoic acid can be photocarcinogenic[3].The aim of this study was qualitative and quantitative determination of hydroquinone and retinoic acid contents in facial whitening creams by colour reaction tests,FT-IR after TLC separation and HPLC.