GC Determination of Water, Nicotine, 1,2-Propylene Glycol and Glycerol in the Aerosol of Heat-not-Burn Cigarettes

A gas chromatography method was applied to the simultaneous determination of water, nicotine, 1,2-propylene glycol and glycerol in the aerosol of heat-not-burn cigarettes with dual columns and dual detectors. The total particulate matters (TPMs) in the aerosol of 5 heat-not-burn cigarettes were captured by Φ 44 mm Cambridge filter pad, then the pad was extracted with 20 mL of isopropanol solution containing three internal standards (Ethanol was the internal standard of water, 2-methyl quinaldine was the internal standard of nicotine, and 1,4-butanediol was the internal standard of 1,2-propanediol and glycerol) for 10 min, the extraction solution was filtered with 0.22 μm filter membrane and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). The water was separated by a Porapak Q² packed column and detected by a thermal conductivity detector (TCD), while nicotine, 1,2-propylene glycol and glycerol were separated by a DB-ALC column and detected by a hydrogen flame ionization detector (FID). Internal standard method was adopted in quantitative analysis. As shown by the results, linear relationships between the ratio of peak areas of water, nicotine, 1,2-propylene glycol and glycerol to that of their internal standards and their mass concentration were found in definite ranges, with detection limits (3S/N) of 0.08, 0.01, 0.02, 0.05 mg·cig^-1, respectively. Test for recovery was made by standard addition method, giving results in the range of 92.3%-103%, and RSDs (n=6) ranged from 2.4% to 9.8%.