PAHs in Tobacco Smoke

Scientists from Lorillard Tobacco Company (Greensboro, North Carolina) developed an improved method for analyzing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in mainstream tobacco smoke. They used two types of solid-phase extraction (SPE) media to remove matrix interferences and performed the analysis with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). They achieved a reduction in analysis run time as well as an increase in accuracy. The researchers also used a chilled impinger to trap semivolatile PAHs.