Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) are gaining popularity across the globe by delivering nicotine as a water based vapor. E-cigs are often marketed as a smoking cessation aid that is healthier than traditional tobacco products. Current limited regulations on the quality control of e-cigs has created a demand for analytical methodology to quantitate and analyze the e-cig liquids. Presented here are the efforts towards quantification of nicotine content in e-cigs using chromatography with calibration curves and standard addition. Using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC), nicotine content in several electronic cigarette liquid samples is being assessed to compare listed values to actual nicotine content. The work with HPLC relied upon calibration curves, and the selectivity of the calibration was hindered by the presence of glycerol and propylene glycol. Analysis using GC, with a flame ionization detector, used internal standards and standard addition to determine the amount of nicotine in each sample, variation in batches of the same brand, and degradation of the nicotine in the solutions over time. Improvements in method validation have enabled better calibration using the GC than with the HPLC. These methods are part of an ongoing effort to increase the awareness of the need for increased regulation over e-cigs.

Analysis of electronic cigarettes using HPLC and GC

254th National Meeting (2017)

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