GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHIC QUANTITATION OF POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS IN TOBACCO-SMOKE

A 4 step method for the reproducible analysis of carcinogenic polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in small quantities of cigarette smoke condensate (CSC) is presented. PAH were isolated from as little as 1 g of CSC by solvent partition, column chromatography and analytical gel filtration (GF). The GF isolate was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) to obtain GC profiles and quantitative data on selected PAH. Improvements over previous solvent partitioning and extraction steps resulted in the quantitative recovery of alkylated and unsubstituted PAH. The procedure was used to screen levels of PAH from CSC of different origins. The effects of filters, tobacco types, tobacco processing methods and a chemical tobacco additive were evaluated. The described methodology should be applicable to the analysis of PAH resulting from other combustion processes in the environment.