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TSRC, Tob. Sci. Res. Conf., 2019, 73, abstr. 099

Extraction of BaP in water from moist snuff

MOLDOVEANU S.C.; HARRISON A.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Winston-Salem, NC, USA

Moist snuff contains traces of several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons including benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). The transfer of BaP from moist snuff to a human user, is likely to involve an extraction process from the snuff matrix into saliva. A previous “in vitro” study was performed to evaluate the extraction of BaP into water or into artificial saliva and reported at 72nd TSRC. It was found that around 100% of the initial BaP remains in the moist snuff matrix when this extraction is performed. As a result, only a very small amount of BaP is likely to be extracted, but the precise level of BaP in the water (or saliva) was not measured. Present study continued the effort to understand the extraction of BaP from moist snuff by measuring the BaP levels in the water extract. Nine types of moist snuff were evaluated for the extraction with water. The moist snuff samples were commercially available and were purchased from the market. They included moist snuff of multiple widths and flavors. The extraction was performed from 2 g of moist snuff (as is) with 100 mL water at 37 oC, using continuous mild agitation for 30 min. To the extract were added 20 uL of a solution of internal standard containing 4 ug/mL indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene and the solution was filtered. 5 mL saturated solution of NaCl were added to the filtrate which was further extracted with 5 mL cyclohexane. The cyclohexane was evaporated under a stream of air, and the residual was dissolved in 1 mL methanol. The methanol solution was analyzed by HPLC with fluorescence detection. The results indicate very low levels of BaP in the water solution.