Solid phase microextraction of volatile organic compounds from cigarette smoke
The determination of volatile compounds in gas samples is a challenging issue. Firstly, because it is difficult to collect large and representative samples and secondly due to the potential losses of the analyte by diffusion through the pores of the sample container. Moreover, the mandatory preconcentration step that must be implemented prior to the instrumental analysis must be carried out maintaining the sample homogeneity. From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, we can read a very interesting approach for the simultaneous determination of up to 22 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in cigarette smoke (1). In addition to their elegant approach to overcome the previously mentioned difficulties, they are able to quantify a broad range of smoke VOCs, usually measured by separated assays. It should also be noticed that all the samples (cigarette smokes) were generated following the ISO3308:2000 standard which assure the validity of the results in terms...