Development of an improved method for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in mainstream tobacco smoke

A gas chromatograph/mass-selective detection (GC/MS) method has been developed and validated for the quantitation of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in mainstream tobacco smoke condensate. The utilization of two types of solid-phase extraction media combined with capillary column technology removed matrix interferences, afforded a significant reduction in analysis run time, and increased accuracy. Also, the addition of a chilled impinger was used to trap semi-volatile polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and to provide more accurate data. This was done without sacrificing the repeatability, reproducibility, and precision obtained in previously published methods. The development and validation studies discussed in this paper resulted in an improved, robust analytical method capable of increasing laboratory capacity and reducing sample reporting time.