Capillary electrophoresis as an analytical tool for monitoring nicotine in ATF regulated tobacco products.
Tobacco products are classified at different excise tax rates according to the Code of Federal Regulations. These include cigars, cigarettes, pipe tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, chewing tobacco and snuff. Nicotine is the primary determinant of what constitutes a tobacco product from a regulatory standpoint. Determination of nicotine, therefore, is of primary importance and interest to ATF. Since nicotine is also the most abundant alkaloid found in tobacco, comprising about 98% of the total alkaloid content, a rapid method for the determination of nicotine in ATF regulated products is desirable. Capillary electrophoresis (CE), as an analytical technique, is rapidly gaining importance capturing the interest of analysts in several areas. The unique and powerful capabilities of CE including high resolution and short analysis times, make it a powerful analytical tool in the regulatory area as well. Preliminary studies using a 25 mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 2.5 at 260 nm have yielded promising results for the analysis of nicotine in tobacco products. Application of an analytical method for the determination of nicotine by CE to ATF regulated tobacco products will be presented.
Ralapati
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U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, National Laboratory Center, Rockville, MD 20850-3188, USA.
D002021:Buffers; D019075:Electrophoresis, Capillary; D006077:Government Agencies; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D009538:Nicotine / Q000032:analysis*; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000737:chemistry*; D019460:Tobacco Industry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
D002021:Buffers; D009538:Nicotine