Development of an analytical method for the determination of N-nitrosamines in tobacco by GC-NCD after solid phase extraction

In this paper an analytical method was developed for the determination of some tobacco specific N-nitrosamines (TSNAs) in cigarettes, and applied to cigarettes purchased in the city of Rio de Janeiro/RJ (Brazil). The analyte detection is based on the gas chromatography technique with a chemiluminescence detector (GC-NCD), while the extraction is based on two stages, the first is a cigarette leaching step, and the other is solid phase extraction of TSNAs from this leaching. The method presented an accuracy of 92 + 18%; the precision was calculated using the coefficient of variation of a standard TSNA mix solution measured on 3 successive days and was in the range from 4.7 to 6.8%. The working range of all TSNAs was 50-700 ng mL(-1), allowing the method to have LOQ values from 198.3 to 623.7.1 ng per cig. The method developed allowed determination of NNN, NAT, NNK and NAB in commercial cigarette samples.