Recently, in addition to e-cigarettes, tobacco vapor products, such as directly heated products and indirectly heated products, have been gaining popularity in some markets. CORESTA has developed a Recommended Method for simultaneous determination of nicotine, propylene glycol and glycerol analysis in vapor of e-cigarettes (CRM 84), but not for tobacco vapor products.

The purpose of this study was to develop an analytical method for simultaneous determination of nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerol and menthol in vapor of tobacco vapor products.

First, we tried to check the applicability of CRM 84. The vapor of directly heated products on the market was collected and analyzed according to CRM 84 using the DB-ALC1 column. As a result, it was found that triacetin contained in the filter of the sticks for directly heated products overlapped the peak of nicotine. Therefore, to improve the method, the DB-WAX column was adopted, which is known to be able to separate nicotine and triacetin. It was confirmed that all target peaks were separated by the analysis of a standard mixture of nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerol, menthol and triacetin. Furthermore, by using the column with a smaller diameter, all target components in the vapor of tobacco vapor products were separated with shorter analysis time. It was confirmed that this method was applicable to e-cigarettes and tobacco vapor products (directly heated products and indirectly heated products).

In conclusion, a new analytical method was developed for simultaneous determination of nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerol and menthol in vapor of e-cigarettes and tobacco vapor products in a short analysis time.