Method for the Determination of Ammonia in Mainstream Cigarette Smoke Using Ion Chromatography

Abstract

Ammonia in mainstream smoke is present in both the particulate and vapor phases. The presence of ammonia in the cigarette filler material and smoke is of significance because of the potential role ammonia could have in raising the “smoke pH.” An increased smoke pH could shift a fraction of total nicotine to free-base nicotine, which is reportedly more rapidly absorbed by the smoker. Methods measuring ammonia in smoke typically employ acid filled impingers to trap the smoke. We developed a fast, reliable method to measure ammonia in mainstream smoke without the use of costly and time consuming impingers to examine differences in ammonia delivery. The method uses both a Cambridge filter pad and a Tedlar bag to capture particulate and vapor phases of the smoke. We quantified ammonia levels in the mainstream smoke of 50 cigarette brands from 5 manufacturers. Ammonia levels ranged from approximately 1μg to 23μg per cigarette for ISO smoking conditions and 38μg to 67μg per cigarette for Canadian intense smoking conditions and statistically significance differences were observed between brands and manufacturers. Our findings suggest that ammonia levels vary by brand and are higher under Canadian intense smoking conditions.

Spectrophotometric determination of ammonia levels in tobacco fillers of and sidestream smoke from different cigarette brands in Japan

“…However, the proposed method was applicable for the analysis of ammonia in tobacco filler. Our 3R4F data (1.14 ± 0.2 mg/g, n = 5) that were obtained using the colorimetric method and ion chromatography were comparable to those previously reported using ion chromatography [ 10 , 16 ] (Table 1 ). Figure 2 shows the ammonia levels in the tobacco fillers extracted from five cigarette brands (3R4F, 1R5F, CM6, Marlboro Red, and Marlboro Gold) determined by the colorimetric method and ion chromatography.…”

“…However, purchasing and maintaining ion chromatography instruments only for analyzing ammonia in tobacco filler and tobacco smoke is relatively expensive. Jansen et al proposed an analytical method that uses clinical analyzers based on enzyme reactions [ 16 ]. In addition, in the water research field, the colorimetric method has been generally followed to determine ammonia levels by using an absorption spectrometer, which is generally available in most analytical laboratories.…”

Gas Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for Selective Detection of 2-Nitropropane in Mainstream Cigarette Smoke

“…Sous le régime de tabagisme intense de Santé Canada, la concentration de 2-nitropropane présente dans la fumée principale générée par machine à partir de (1). The vapor phase of mainstream cigarette smoke is primarily made up of air constituents, with a minority composition (7%) of tobacco-derived volatile organic compounds (VOCs) (2)(3)(4)(5)(6). Cigarette smoking is the most significant non-occupational route of human exposure to many harmful or potentially harmful VOCs.…”