Electronic cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) have been promoted as a safer alternative to regular tobacco cigarettes to deliver nicotine to a user. This project set out to create methods of analysis for ENDS liquids and vapor. Different e-cigarette liquids and the vapor from those liquids vaporized in different devices were analyzed. Results were gathered to compare what compounds are present both in the room temperature liquid and the resulting vapor after heating and vaporization. Methods of analysis include qualitative and quantitative analysis using solid phase micro extraction (SPME) gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and direct liquid injection liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerin, menthol, carbon dioxide, several flavor compounds, and other derivative compounds were identified in the samples with standards and mass spectral libraries. Samples of the e-cigarette liquids and of the vapor produced by the ENDS device were spiked with internal standards to facilitate quantification. Compounds that have been identified as toxic were identified as being present in detectable concentrations in ENDS vapor samples. The use of LC-MS enabled the reactions occurring during vaporization in ENDS devices to be critically analyzed.

Electronic cigarette solution and vapor analysis with GC-MS and LC-MS

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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