A modified trapping method to quantify hydrogen cyanide in mainstream and sidestream cigarette smoke under ISO and Health Canada intense smoking regimes

Abstract

Hydrogen cyanide is a toxic compound and plays a critical role in cigarette smoke hazard assessment. Due to its reactivity with other chemicals of cigarette smoke, hydrogen cyanide collection was accomplished by the novel trapping method established in our laboratory using glass-fibre filter pads (GFP) treated by sodium hydroxide. However, the GFP trapping method has not been tested under Health Canada Intense (HCI) smoking regime and the trapping efficiency of GFP versus traditional methods have not been evaluated. The present study employed the two trapping methods to collect hydrogen cyanide in mainstream and sidestream cigarette smoke under ISO and HCI smoking regimes. The causes leading to losses of hydrogen cyanide and effects of smoking parameters used in the traditional trapping method were also investigated in this study. It was found that under both ISO and HCI smoking regimes the amounts of hydrogen cyanide in GFP trapping method were strongly correlated (r>0.99) with those by the traditional trapping method, though the traditional method trapped less hydrogen cyanide in sidestream smoke. Carbonyl compounds, such as formaldehyde, were identified as the contributors for the loss of hydrogen cyanide in the alkaline solution. Puff profile was affected to some extents by the use of impinger. Collectively, the results indicate that the modified trapping method is preferred for the routine analysis of hydrogen cyanide in cigarette smoke under ISO and HCI smoking regimes.