Simultaneous determination of moisture content and deliveries of nicotine, glycerol, 1, 2-propylene glycol, glycerol triacetate and menthol in aerosol from heat-not-burn tobacco products by GC-TCD method

Using 1, 3-butanediol and n-butanol as internal standards, a gas chromatography method coupled with thermal conductivity detector (GC-TCD) was developed for simultaneously determining moisture, nicotine, glycerol, 1, 2-propylene glycol, glycerol triacetate and menthol deliveries in the aerosol of heat-not-burn tobacco products. The total particulate matter in the aerosol collected by Cambridge filters was extracted with isopropanol solution containing the two internal standards and quantified by the developed GC-TCD method. The aerosol components of four heat-not-burn samples were determined. The results showed that:1) This method could simultaneously determine the concentrations of nicotine, glycerol, 1, 2-propylene glycol, glycerol triacetate, menthol and also the moisture content in the aerosol extracts. 2) The limits of quantitation for moisture, nicotine, glycerol, 1, 2-propylene glycol, glycerol triacetate and menthol were 0.630, 0.031, 0.059, 0.035, 0.046 and 0.048 mg/product, respectively. The spiked recoveries ranged from 95.1% to 109.2% with the relative standard deviations (RSD) of 1.77%-4.28%.