Famele Marco, Ferranti Carolina, Abenavoli Carmelo, Palleschi Luca, Mancinelli Rosanna, Draisci Rosa
Centro Nazionale Sostanze Chimiche, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
Centro Nazionale Sostanze Chimiche, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2015 Mar;17(3):271-9. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntu197. Epub 2014 Sep 25.
To date, several concerns have been raised on the purity of ingredients employed in the manufacturing processes of refill fluids and cartridges, the device functionality, and the quality control of electronic cigarettes. This article reviews analytical methods so far described for the analysis of liquids to detect their chemical components and to investigate the presence of toxicants and carcinogens that can potentially occur as impurities of ingredients or as a consequence of their degradation.
Based on the scientific literature, high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC/DAD) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) are most appropriate for determining nicotine and related compounds in fluids and cartridges, whereas LC-MS/MS has been successfully used to determine nitrosamines. Content analyses of glycols have been performed using gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector or gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), whereas carbonyl and other volatile organic compounds determinations have been performed by HPLC/DAD and GC/MS, respectively. Content analyses of heavy metals have been performed by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Since new potentially toxic substances may be created during heating, it is also necessary to investigate the chemical composition of generated aerosol. In this case, similar methods applied for tobacco smoke can be adopted.
A broad range of analytical techniques are available for the detection of constituents and toxicants in e-liquids and cartridges. Analyses of liquids have been performed with pharmacopeia procedures and methods (International Organization for Standardization, Environmental Protection Agency, and American Public Health Association) developed for other matrices but applicable to e-liquids. Because new potentially harmful substances may be produced during heating process, analyses of aerosol are needed to correlate its composition to the chemical components of liquids.
迄今为止，人们对电子烟补充液和烟弹制造过程中所使用成分的纯度、设备功能以及质量控制提出了诸多担忧。本文综述了目前已描述的用于分析电子烟液体以检测其化学成分，并调查可能作为成分杂质或因成分降解而产生的有毒物质和致癌物的分析方法。
基于科学文献，配备二极管阵列检测的高效液相色谱法（HPLC/DAD）和液相色谱 - 串联质谱法（LC-MS/MS）最适合用于测定液体和烟弹中的尼古丁及相关化合物，而LC-MS/MS已成功用于测定亚硝胺。二醇类的含量分析使用配备火焰离子化检测器的气相色谱法或气相色谱/质谱法（GC/MS）进行，而羰基化合物和其他挥发性有机化合物的测定分别通过HPLC/DAD和GC/MS进行。重金属的含量分析通过电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法或电感耦合等离子体质谱法进行。由于加热过程中可能会产生新的潜在有毒物质，因此还需要研究生成的气溶胶的化学成分。在这种情况下，可以采用适用于烟草烟雾的类似方法。
有多种分析技术可用于检测电子烟液和烟弹中的成分及有毒物质。液体分析采用了为其他基质开发但适用于电子烟液的药典程序和方法（国际标准化组织、环境保护局和美国公共卫生协会）。由于加热过程中可能会产生新的潜在有害物质，因此需要对气溶胶进行分析，以将其成分与液体的化学成分相关联。
