Comparative study of comprehensive gas chromatography-nitrogen chemiluminescence detection and gas chromatography-ion trap-tandem mass spectrometry for determining nicotine and carcinogen organic nitrogen compounds in thirdhand tobacco smoke

The performance of the optimized PLE/GC × GC-NCD method was tested by quantifying the target compounds in house dust samples from smokers' and non-smokers' homes. The median carcinogen compounds detected was 3.8 μg g−1 and 1.1 μg g−1 in smokers' and non-smokers' house dust, respectively. In this study, we have detected highly carcinogenic aromatic amines and nitro compounds for the first time in settled house dust complementing the state of knowledge of THS composition and providing fresh evidence about THS health risks.