Quantitative Analysis of Polyvinylpyrrolidone in Atmosphere Samples and Biological Tissues

Abstract A quantitative method for the analysis of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), collected in atmospheric samples or extracted from biological tissues, is described. PVP is a component in many aerosol hair sprays. A 0.4M citric acid solution is used to collect or extract the PVP. The color is developed by using a potassium iodide reagent, and the intensity of the color is read on a spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 432 mμ. The low limit of detection for this method has been established at 0.5 μg of PVP per milliliter of final solution.