Determination of Nicotine-Related Impurities in Nicotine Pouches and Tobacco Containing Products by Liquid Chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

xIntroduction:
This article presents a method for determining nicotine-related impurities in nicotine pouches and tobacco-containing products using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. The method was developed to simultaneously determine seven nicotine impurities, and it was fully validated with good linearity, extraction yields, and low limits of detection and quantification.

Key Points:

* The method was developed to determine nicotine degradants in nicotine pouches, which are associated with fewer health hazards than cigarettes.
* Nicotine pouches are filled with non-tobacco filler and nicotine, which usually comes from tobacco extraction and may contain related alkaloids as impurities.
* Nicotine degradation products are formed due to microbial action, flavor oxidation, exposure to high temperatures, and other environmental factors.
* The method was validated for seven nicotine-related impurities, including nicotine-N0-oxide, nornicotine, anabasine, anatabine, cotinine, myosmine, and -nicotyrine.
* all seven analytes and corresponding deuterated internal standards were separated within 3.5 minutes, including 1-minute equilibrium.
* The method was fully validated, showing good linearity, extraction yields, and low limits of detection and quantification.
* although the method was mainly developed for nicotine pouches, it was validated and performed well on a broader range of tobacco-containing products.

Main Message:
The study describes a sensitive and selective method for determining nicotine-related impurities in nicotine pouches and tobacco-containing products. The method was fully validated and can be used for quality control purposes, such as checking the purity of nicotine and monitoring nicotine degradation in stability studies. The method could also be useful for comparing nicotine pouches with tobacco-containing products. The study highlights the importance of monitoring nicotine degradants in nicotine pouches, which are becoming increasingly popular and are associated with fewer health hazards than cigarettes.

avagyan, Rozanna, Maya Spasova, and Johan Lindholm. “Determination of Nicotine-Related Impurities in Nicotine Pouches and Tobacco-Containing Products by Liquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry.” Separations 8, no. 6 (June 3, 2021): 77. https://doi.org/10.3390/separations8060077.