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. 2020 Apr;412(11):2675-2685.
doi: 10.1007/s00216-020-02502-1. Epub 2020 Feb 18.

Comprehensive chemical characterization of the aerosol generated by a heated tobacco product by untargeted screening

Mark C Bentley  1 , Martin Almstetter  2 , Daniel Arndt  2 , Arno Knorr  2 , Elyette Martin  2 , Pavel Pospisil  2 , Serge Maeder  2
Affiliations

Comprehensive chemical characterization of the aerosol generated by a heated tobacco product by untargeted screening

Mark C Bentley et al. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2020 Apr.

Abstract

A suite of untargeted methods has been applied for the characterization of aerosol from the Tobacco Heating System 2.2 (THS2.2), a heated tobacco product developed by Philip Morris Products S.A. and commercialized under the brand name IQOS®. A total of 529 chemical constituents, excluding water, glycerin, and nicotine, were present in the mainstream aerosol of THS2.2, generated by following the Health Canada intense smoking regimen, at concentrations ≥ 100 ng/item. The majority were present in the particulate phase (n = 402), representing more than 80% of the total mass determined by untargeted screening; a proportion were present in both particulate and gas-vapor phases (39 compounds). The identities for 80% of all chemical constituents (representing > 96% of the total determined mass) were confirmed by the use of authentic analytical reference materials. Despite the uncertainties that are recognized to be associated with aerosol-based untargeted approaches, the reported data remain indicative that the uncharacterized fraction of TPM generated by THS2.2 has been evaluated to the fullest practicable extent. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the most comprehensive chemical characterization of a heated tobacco aerosol to date. Graphical abstract.

Keywords: Aerosol; Chemical characterization; GC×GC-TOFMS; Heated tobacco product; LC-HRAM-MS; Untargeted screening.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

None
Graphical abstract
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Illustration of the suite of untargeted methods used to cover the anticipated chemical space for tobacco smoke and aerosol, indicating approximate overlaps between the methods (HILIC, hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
General schematic for smoke/aerosol trapping (TPM, total particulate matter; GVP, gas-vapor phase)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Overall distribution of RSD values observed for non-targeted analysis replicates (RSD, relative standard deviation)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Distribution of compound identification status by mass
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Cumulative mass of individual chemical constituents contributing to THS2.2 GVP, ranked in order from the highest (left) to lowest (right) individual mass contribution (GVP, gas-vapor phase)
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Gross composition of TPM from THS2.2 aerosol generated by using the Health Canada intense smoking regimen (TPM, total particulate matter; NFDPM, nicotine-free dry particulate matter)
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Cumulative mass of individual chemical constituents contributing to THS2.2 NFDPM (excluding glycerin) ranked in order from the highest (left) to lowest (right) individual mass contribution (NFDPM, nicotine-free dry particulate matter)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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