Determination of Toxic Metals in Little Cigar Tobacco with 'Triple Quad' ICP-MS.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the USA. Much of the focus on harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) in tobacco products has been on cigarettes. Little cigars gained popularity over the last decade until tobacco taxes made cigarettes more expensive in the USA. Many little cigar brands are similar in size with cigarettes and may be smoked in a similar manner. Scant data are available on HPHC concentrations in little cigars, therefore we developed and applied a new analytical method to determine concentrations of 10 toxic metals in little cigar tobacco. The method utilizes 'triple quadrupole' ICP-MS. By optimizing octapole bias, energy discrimination and cell gas flow settings, we were able to accurately quantify a range of elements including those for which the cell gas reactions were endothermic. All standard modes (Single Quad No Gas, MS-MS NH3/He and MS-MS O2) were utilized for the quantitation of 10 toxic metals in little cigar tobacco, including uranium, which was added as an analyte in the new method. Because of the elimination of interfering ions at 'shifted analyte masses', detection limits were lower compared with a previous method. Tobacco selenium concentrations were below the limit of detection in the previous method, but the new technology made it possible to report all selenium concentrations.
Tobacco and Volatiles Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, MS F-44, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA rpappas@cdc.gov.
R Steven
RS
Pappas
Tobacco and Volatiles Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, MS F-44, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
Naudia
N
Martone
Tobacco and Volatiles Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, MS F-44, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
Nathalie
N
Gonzalez-Jimenez
Battelle Analytical Services, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Mark R
MR
Fresquez
Tobacco and Volatiles Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, MS F-44, Atlanta, GA 30341, USA.
Clifford H
CH
Watson
D002138:Calibration; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000592:standards; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012643:Selenium / Q000032:analysis; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000592:standards; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis
D008670:Metals; D014501:Uranium; D012643:Selenium