Bioanalytical Laboratory, GAIA Research Center, The Goulandris Natural History Museum, 14562 Kifissia, Greece.
Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupolis Zografou, 15784 Athens, Greece.
Molecules. 2023 Feb 16;28(4):1902. doi: 10.3390/molecules28041902.
The use of e-cigarettes (ECs) has become increasingly popular worldwide, even though scientific results have not established their safety. Diacetyl (DA) and acetylpropionyl (AP), which can be present in ECs, are linked with lung diseases. Ethyl maltol (EM)-the most commonly used flavoring agent-can be present in toxic concentrations. Until now, there is no methodology for the determination of nicotine, propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), EM, DA, and acetylpropionyl in e-liquids that can be used as a quality control procedure. Herein, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was applied for the development of analytical methodologies for these substances. Two GC-MS methodologies were developed and fully validated, fulfilling the standards for the integration in a routine quality control procedure by manufacturers. As proof of applicability, the methodology was applied for the analysis of several e-liquids. Differences were observed between the labeled and the experimental levels of PG, VG, and nicotine. Three samples contained EM at higher concentrations compared to the other samples, while only one contained DA. These validated methodologies can be used for the quality control analysis of EC liquid samples regarding nicotine, PG, and VG amounts, as well as for the measurement of the EM.
电子烟（ECs）在全球范围内的使用越来越普及，尽管科学研究尚未确定其安全性。二乙酰（DA）和乙酰丙酰基（AP）可存在于 ECs 中，与肺部疾病有关。乙基麦芽酚（EM）——最常用的调味剂——可能以有毒浓度存在。到目前为止，还没有一种可以用于电子烟液中尼古丁、丙二醇（PG）、蔬菜甘油（VG）、EM、DA 和乙酰丙酰基定量的方法，可作为质量控制程序。在此，我们应用气相色谱-质谱联用（GC-MS）来开发这些物质的分析方法。开发并充分验证了两种 GC-MS 方法，满足制造商集成到常规质量控制程序中的标准。为了证明适用性，我们将该方法应用于几种电子烟液的分析。在 PG、VG 和尼古丁的标签水平和实验水平之间观察到差异。三个样本中 EM 的浓度高于其他样本，而只有一个样本含有 DA。这些经过验证的方法可用于电子烟液样品的质量控制分析，以确定尼古丁、PG 和 VG 的含量，以及 EM 的测量。
