Selective Removal of Semivolatile Components of Cigarette Smoke by Various Filters

The semivolatile portion of cigarette smoke contains acidic, basic, and neutral compounds that are important to the flavour and in some cases the physiological effects of smoke. A rapid method that could be used routinely for the gas chromatographic analysis of this portion of smoke was developed. A 160 mm glass capillary column was used to resolve approximately 150 semivolatile smoke components. Gas chromatography - mass spectrometry was used to identify about 35 of these components. Twenty known semivolatile compounds with different functional groups and boiling points were used to determine the effects of various filters on their removal from smoke. Standard cellulose acetate filters, cellulose acetate filters with glycerin, cellulose acetate filters with PEG 600, and cellulose acetate filters with activated carbon were evaluated. The cellulose acetate filters with glycerin and PEG 600 were more selective for the removal of aromatic hydrocarbons than were the standard cellulose acetate filters. The cellulose acetate filters with activated carbon were more selective for the removaI of the low-boiling semivolatile compounds than were the other filters tested.