Direct Extraction and Determination of Free Nicotine in Cigarette Smoke

The accurate determination of the free nicotine content in cigarette smoke is crucial for assessing cigarette quality, studying harm and addiction, and reducing tar levels. Currently, the determination of free nicotine in tobacco products primarily relies on methods such as pH calculation, nuclear m...

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Main Authors: Li Li, Jing Wen, Yuyang Deng, Juan Yang, Yue Yuan, Yi Shen, Guoce Liu, Yonghong Tian, Dean Lei
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-01-01
Series:Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/9273705
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author Li Li
Jing Wen
Yuyang Deng
Juan Yang
Yue Yuan
Yi Shen
Guoce Liu
Yonghong Tian
Dean Lei
author_facet Li Li
Jing Wen
Yuyang Deng
Juan Yang
Yue Yuan
Yi Shen
Guoce Liu
Yonghong Tian
Dean Lei
author_sort Li Li
collection DOAJ
description The accurate determination of the free nicotine content in cigarette smoke is crucial for assessing cigarette quality, studying harm and addiction, and reducing tar levels. Currently, the determination of free nicotine in tobacco products primarily relies on methods such as pH calculation, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), and traditional solvent extraction. However, these methods have limitations that restrict their widespread application. In this study, the free nicotine in cigarette smoke was directly extracted by using cyclohexane according to the traditional solvent extraction method and detected via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Compared with the traditional two-phase solvent extraction, our experimental method is easy to execute and eliminates the influence of aqueous solutions on the original distribution of nicotine in cigarette smoke particulate matter. Furthermore, the presence of protonated nicotine in tobacco does not affect the determination. Compared with HS-SPME and NMR spectroscopy, our approach, which involves solvent extraction followed by chromatographic separation and instrumental detection, offers simplicity, improved precision, better detection limits, and reduced interference during the instrumental detection stage. The standard addition recoveries in the conducted experiment ranged from 96.2% to 102.5%. The limit of detection was 2.8 μg/cig, and the correlation coefficient R2 for the quadratic regression of the standard curve exceeded 0.999. The relative standard deviation for parallel samples was between 1.7% and 3.4% (n = 5), fully meeting the requirements for the determination of free nicotine in cigarette smoke. Analysis of cigarette samples from 38 commercially available brands revealed that the content of free nicotine ranged from 0.376 to 0.716 mg/cig, with an average of 0.540 mg/cig, and free nicotine accounted for 39.1%–88.8% of the total nicotine content.
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spelling doaj-art-7fe047d5b77543e28bb527a6e2d865b62025-08-20T03:06:44ZengWileyJournal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry2090-88732024-01-01202410.1155/2024/9273705Direct Extraction and Determination of Free Nicotine in Cigarette SmokeLi Li0Jing Wen1Yuyang Deng2Juan Yang3Yue Yuan4Yi Shen5Guoce Liu6Yonghong Tian7Dean Lei8Technology CenterTechnology CenterTechnology CenterTechnology CenterTechnology CenterTechnology CenterTechnology CenterTechnology CenterTechnology CenterThe accurate determination of the free nicotine content in cigarette smoke is crucial for assessing cigarette quality, studying harm and addiction, and reducing tar levels. Currently, the determination of free nicotine in tobacco products primarily relies on methods such as pH calculation, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), and traditional solvent extraction. However, these methods have limitations that restrict their widespread application. In this study, the free nicotine in cigarette smoke was directly extracted by using cyclohexane according to the traditional solvent extraction method and detected via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Compared with the traditional two-phase solvent extraction, our experimental method is easy to execute and eliminates the influence of aqueous solutions on the original distribution of nicotine in cigarette smoke particulate matter. Furthermore, the presence of protonated nicotine in tobacco does not affect the determination. Compared with HS-SPME and NMR spectroscopy, our approach, which involves solvent extraction followed by chromatographic separation and instrumental detection, offers simplicity, improved precision, better detection limits, and reduced interference during the instrumental detection stage. The standard addition recoveries in the conducted experiment ranged from 96.2% to 102.5%. The limit of detection was 2.8 μg/cig, and the correlation coefficient R2 for the quadratic regression of the standard curve exceeded 0.999. The relative standard deviation for parallel samples was between 1.7% and 3.4% (n = 5), fully meeting the requirements for the determination of free nicotine in cigarette smoke. Analysis of cigarette samples from 38 commercially available brands revealed that the content of free nicotine ranged from 0.376 to 0.716 mg/cig, with an average of 0.540 mg/cig, and free nicotine accounted for 39.1%–88.8% of the total nicotine content.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/9273705
spellingShingle Li Li
Jing Wen
Yuyang Deng
Juan Yang
Yue Yuan
Yi Shen
Guoce Liu
Yonghong Tian
Dean Lei
Direct Extraction and Determination of Free Nicotine in Cigarette Smoke
Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry
title Direct Extraction and Determination of Free Nicotine in Cigarette Smoke
title_full Direct Extraction and Determination of Free Nicotine in Cigarette Smoke
title_fullStr Direct Extraction and Determination of Free Nicotine in Cigarette Smoke
title_full_unstemmed Direct Extraction and Determination of Free Nicotine in Cigarette Smoke
title_short Direct Extraction and Determination of Free Nicotine in Cigarette Smoke
title_sort direct extraction and determination of free nicotine in cigarette smoke
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2024/9273705
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