Abstract
The influence of sucrose combustion products on smoking and nicotine addiction is still controversial because the presence of the sucrose may be treated as a source of aldehydes and organic acids. In e-liquids used as refills for electronic cigarettes, which are made primarily of poly(propylene glycol), glycerine and ethanol, sucrose may be present at trace levels, and its impact on mainstream smoke formation, and hence on human health and smoking/nicotine addiction is unknown. An analytical method was developed where high-performance liquid chromatography in hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography mode and tandem mass spectrometry were used for fast and simple determination of sucrose and other saccharides in e-liquids for electronic cigarettes. Minimal effort was required in the sample preparation step, and satisfactory results were obtained, and the sample matrix had an insignificant impact. The chromatographic separation was done using an Ascentis Express OH5 column (150 mm × 2.1 mm, 2.7 μm). The coefficients of variation for within-day precision for three concentrations were 2.4 %, 1.6 % and 2.3 %, and the between-day coefficients of variation for a single concentration were 2.1 %, 2.5 % and 1.7 % measured on the next 3 days. The detection limit was 0.73 μg/g, and the sucrose content in e-liquids ranged from 0.76 to 72.93 μg/g among 37 samples. Moreover, with the method presented it is possible to determine the presence of other saccharides such as fructose, glucose, maltose and lactose. However, only sucrose was found in all samples of e-liquids. The proposed method is rapid, simple and reliable in terms of high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry.
Highlights
The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as an alternative to traditional tobacco smoking and as part of therapy in nicotine and smoking addiction is becoming more and more popular
High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) grade acetonitrile was purchased from Merck (Darmstadt, Germany)
The samples of e-liquids were tested for the presence of two disaccharides and two common monosaccharides in order to exclude their possible coelution with sucrose
Summary
The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as an alternative to traditional tobacco smoking and as part of therapy in nicotine and smoking addiction is becoming more and more popular. The exact mechanism of the formation of aldehydes and organic acids during combustion of sucrose and other sugars in tobacco is still not fully understood [7, 8]. Aldehydes coming from sugars during the combustion of tobacco may have the reinforcing effect responsible for increased addiction to nicotine and smoking [9, 13]. The high temperature during the combustion of tobacco (from 600 to 900 °C during drawing) is responsible for the formation of aldehydes and organic acids. From one point of view, this temperature may seem too low (around 250 °C) to lead to the formation of aldehydes and organic acids, but there are reports [3, 15] indicating fairly quick formation of aldehydes from sucrose during cigarette smoking even at temperatures as low as 200 °C. None of the labels of e-liquids on the market state that the products contain sucrose or may contain it at a trace level
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