Determination of Particulate Matter and Alkaloids (as Nicotine) in Cigarette Smoke

A collaborative smoking study for the determination of particulate matter and nicotine deliveries of cigarettes, by a method chosen by the Analytical Methods Committee of the Tobacco Chemists’ Conference, was completed during the year. The 12 collaborators obtained coefficients of variation within laboratories of 4% and between laboratories of 10%. Each collaborator was asked to smoke 40 cigarettes (8 samples of 5 cigarettes). Non-filter (85 mm) cigarettes and filter (85 mm) cigarettes were analyzed. The cigarettes were conditioned for 24 hours at 75°F and 60% r.h. prior to selection for smoking. Cigarettes weighing within 20 mg of the average cigarette weight (50 randomly selected cigarettes) were marked to a 30 mm butt length. The cigarettes were smoked into a Cambridge filter holder by an automatic smoking machine which drew a 35 ml puff of 2-second duration once every minute. Five weight-selected cigarettes, marked to 30 mm butt, were smoked per Cambridge filter and the particulate matter (wet) was determined as the weight gain of the Cambridge filter. Nicotine delivery was determined by distilling the Cambridge filter pads and measuring the nicotine spectrophotometrically.