Study of the mainstream cigarette smoke aerosols by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry coupled to laser/desorption and electrospray ionization - Additional insights on the heteroaromatic components.

RATIONALE: The chemical composition of particulate phase of cigarette smoke inhaled by the active smoker is still poorly known in spite of its importance on a health point of view. A non-targeted approach is applied on cigarette smoke particles collected on a quartz filter to obtain an as complete as possible description of this complex mixture.

METHODS: A home-made smoking machine including devices for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and particles sampling was used. The validation of the cigarette smoking and cigarette smoke collection procedures was conducted by the quantification of some compounds by GC/MS. The particles were investigated by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT ICR-MS) directly after their collection on quartz filter by laser/desorption ionization (LDI) or after extraction with CH2 Cl2 by electrospray ionization (ESI).

RESULTS: The determination of the benzene, toluene, ethyl-benzene and xylenes (from 2 to 35 μg/cigarette) and nicotine (0.68 ± 0.05 mg/cigarette) validated the used sampling method. The complementarity of the LDI and ESI for the cigarette smoke analysis was established. The ESI analyses evidenced polar compounds and components with a pyridine group and, LDI ensured the detection of poly-condensed hetero-aromatic species. Finally, this methodology was employed to characterize particles from cigarettes with or without flavoring additives.

CONCLUSIONS: Some insights of the composition of cigarette smoke inhaled by active smoker have been obtained. The ~1750 observed features revealed the huge complexity of cigarette smoke particles and the diversity of the possible associated health issues. Both hetero-aromatic and highly oxygenated compounds produced by combustion and pyrolysis have been highlighted.