Analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in cigarette samples using gel permeation chromatography clean-up by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

•Gel permeation chromatography clean-up and GC–MS/MS were used to analysis PAHs in the cigarette mainstream smoke.•More sensitivity and selectivity results were obtained using GC–MS/MS.•Relative low-tar cigarettes provide relative low emission levels of PAHs.

A new method using gel permeation chromatography (GPC) as clean-up by gas chromatography coupled to a triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS) was established to measure the concentrations of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in cigarette samples. GPC clean-up was employed to purify cigarette mainstream smoke samples collected from cigarettes in China, giving cleaner final extracts than traditional solid phase extraction (SPE). GC–MS/MS with a “pseudo” multiple reactive monitoring mode (PMRM) proved superior to the classic single quadrupole technique, with enhanced sensitivity and more accurate. Trace level PAHs could be readily confirmed by their retention times and characteristic ions. The concentrations of PAHs in these cigarette samples ranged from 455.9 ng/cig to 1201.3 ng/cig in the range of cigarette tar between 5 mg and 12 mg, with the main components being two-, three, and four-ring PAHs. When tar is over 10 mg, there is 14.4% increase in PAH concentrations on average than that tar is between 8 and 10 mg, while there is 28.6% decrease when tar is below 6 mg. These results indicate that relative low-tar cigarettes provide relative low emission levels of PAHs.