Primary aromatic amines (PAAs) are compounds of interest that are routinely found in mainstream tobacco smoke. With the increasing interest in e-cigarette aerosol and liquid products, there is requirement for sensitive methods of measurement for PAAs when evaluating these matrices. The method described here is a modification of a method used for combustible cigarettes for PAA analysis in e-liquid and aerosol.

This method is a limit test, and utilizes a low level standard and a matrix spike to demonstrate realistic low level responses for comparison against samples. The low level standard is used as a clean matrix reference while the matrix spike represents a true representation of the responses of each analyte in various formulations of Electronic Cigarette e-liquid and aerosol. The target PAAs analyzed are 1-aminonaphthalene, 2-aminonaphthalene and 4-aminobiphenyl. Electronic cigarette aerosol is collected using a 44-mm Cambridge filter pad (CFP) which is then extracted with 5% HCL through both MCX and HLB cartridges. The final fraction is collected in toluene and derivatized with heptafluorobutyric anhydride. The sample is analyzed by GCMS using negative chemical ionization (NICI). The method has been validated as a limit test in concordance with the ICH guidelines.