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. 2024 Sep 11:22.
doi: 10.18332/tid/191823. eCollection 2024.

On the extension of the use of a standard operating procedure for nicotine, glycerol and propylene glycol analysis in e-liquids using mass spectrometry

Alessia Turina  1 , Alice Passoni  1 , Silvano Gallus  2 , Alessandra Lugo  2 , Walther Klerx  3 , Reinskje Talhout  3 , Ranti Fayokun  4 , Constantine Vardavas  5 , Enrico Davoli  1
Affiliations

On the extension of the use of a standard operating procedure for nicotine, glycerol and propylene glycol analysis in e-liquids using mass spectrometry

Alessia Turina et al. Tob Induc Dis. .

Abstract

Introduction: Standard operating procedures (SOP), accessible to several laboratories, are essential for product verification. EU-JATC (European-Joint Action on Tobacco Control) SOP and the WHO TobLabNet (World Health Organization Tobacco Laboratories Network) SOP (SOP11) are available standard methodologies to measure nicotine, glycerol, and propylene glycol, and propose mass spectrometer (MS) as an alternative method to flame ionization detector (FID). This study conducted a comparison between FID and MS concentration results, following the MS method described in SOP11.

Methods: In May 2020, five test e-liquids in replicates (A-E) were prepared at the Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri and sent, with SOP 11, validation document and results datasheet to 32 different laboratories all over the world from WHO TobLabNet and EU-JATC (18 from JATC, ten from WHO TobLabNet and four academic laboratories). Among thirty-two independent laboratories that participated in the study, results were received from 30 laboratories.

Results: The e-liquids analyses, using the two approaches, were compared. Of the 30 laboratories surveyed, 21 utilized the FID approach exclusively, 7 opted for MS detection, and 2 employed both methods. The findings demonstrated that the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method offers comparable analytical capabilities regarding accuracy and precision for nicotine, glycerol, and propylene glycol to the FID approach. Through Pearson's correlation test with r≃1 showing a positive correlation between GC-FID and GC-MS data, and the Student's t-test, no significant differences between the two approaches were revealed, showing p>0.005 for almost all three analytes in all samples.

Conclusions: This study indicates that it is possible to apply the available EU-JATC SOP and the WHO TobLabNet SOP11 even in laboratories that do not have access to an FID, for example, to analyze flavors, trace compounds or carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic for reproduction (CMR) in electronic cigarette liquids.

Keywords: e-liquids; mass spectrometry; nicotine; standard operating procedure.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. The authors declare that they have no competing interests, financial or otherwise, related to the current work. S. Gallus and A. Lugo report that since the initial planning of the work their institution received funding from the European Union’s Health Program under grant agreement N°101035968. E. Davoli reports that since the initial planning of the work, the Joint Action on strengthening cooperation between the interested Member States and the Commission in the area of Tobacco Control received funding from the European Union’s Consumers, Health and Food Executive Agency under grant agreement N° 761297-JATC-HP-JA-03-2016.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of participants’ concentration (mg/mL) results for nicotine
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of participants’ concentration (mg/mL) results for glycerol
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of participants’ concentration (mg/mL) results for glycol
Figure 4
Figure 4
Linear correlation (Pearson’s r≃1) between mean MS and mean FID concentration (mg/mL) for nicotine (D), glycerol (E), and propylene glycol (F)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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