Determination of 1,2-propylene Glycol, Glycerol and Nicotine of Tobacco Materials in Heat-not-burn Cigarettes

A gas chromatography-flame ionization (GC-FID) method was developed for determination of 1,2-propylene glycol, glycerol and nicotine of tobacco materials in heat-not-burn cigarettes by using 1,4-butanediol and quinaldine as internal standards. Twelve tobacco material samples of five different brands were determined by the method. The results showed that:1) The limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 0.02-0.22 mg/g and 0.06-0.74 mg/g, respectively; the recoveries were 84.74%-98.81%, and intra-day and inter-day precisions were 0.15%-0.86%. 2) The contents of 1,2-propylene glycol, glycerol and nicotine in the samples ranged from 0-82.45,116.31-204.98, and 7.06-15.26 mg/g, respectively. 3) Glycerol and nicotine were detected in all samples. 4) The content of 1,2-propylene glycol in domestic samples was higher than that in foreign samples. This method was easy, sensitive and accurate, and was suitable for determination of 1,2-propylene glycol, glycerol and nicotine of tobacco materials in heat-not-burn cigarettes.