E-Cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) have only recently began to be regulated at the federal level. E-cig fluid can contain many unknown components that might impact the user’s health. Our lab proposed to use direct sample injection (DSI) GC-MS/MS as a fast and reliable instrumental method to analyze the components in the fluids. DSI GC-MS/MS is able to offer separation even in the presence of a complex matrix or dirty sample background.<br/>DSI GC-MS/MS utilizes a programmed temperature vaporizing injector (PTV). In conjunction with a ChromatoProbe (a steel accessory), which can be used to contain and subsequently heat up to 10 microliters of solid or liquid sample in a disposable glass vial. The PTV was used to mimic the heating behavior of an e-cigarette atomizer. The ChromatoProbe is inserted into the PTV injector where the programmed heating takes place. The heating program started the PTV injector at 60°C and ramped the temperature to 280°C at a rate of 200°C/min to simulate e-cig vaporization. This allows a sample in a dirty or complex matrix to be heated and volatile components directly injected in a GC column for separation. Additionally, identification is carried out through the monitoring of signature ion fragments of the eluted substance in EIC and with tandem MS. Therefore, the e-cig components can be identified and analyzed independent of the matrix.<br/>Nicotine was the first component identified and quantified in the e-cig fluid. An external standard calibration curve was prepared with nicotine in glycerol in order to simulate the behavior of e-cig fluid as glycerol is one of the main solvents in e-cig fluids. Several actual e-cig fluids were injected and the nicotine contents quantified. The reported nicotine concentration of one fluid was 6 mg/mL and the calculated nicotine concentration was 5.21 mg/mL giving a percent error of -13.1%. Additionally, the e-cig fluid mass spectra indicated, after DSI heating, the presence of several thermal decomposition products from propylene glycol, another common e-cig fluid solvent. Future work with DSI will be aimed at more accurate identification and quantification of other thermal oxidation products from the decomposition of the propylene glycol as well as flavors and other additives.

Analysis of e-cigarette fluid with Direct Sample Injection (DSI) GC-MS/MS

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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