Chemical Studies on Tobacco Smoke XXIV. A Quantitative Method for Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide in Cigarette and Cigar Smoke

Abstract

A method for the gas chromatographic determination of CO and CO₂ in cigarette and cigar smoke was developed. Ali-quots of the total smoke or the smoke of an individual puff were injected via a dual gas sampling loop onto a mixed packing column. Initially CO₂ is separated from CO, N₂ and O₂ on silica gel; a subsequent oxidation of CO to CO₂ on an iodine pentoxide layer results in the separation of CO (as CO₂) from N₂ and O₂. The experimental variation of the reference gas was 1.9% for CO and 2.0% for CO₂. The technique was applied to the smoke analysis of commercial and experimental tobacco products and yielded standard deviations of less than 4% for commercial cigarettes. The amount of CO and CO₂ increases linearly with the puff number. Results of various experimental cigarettes are discussed as well as the possibility of reducing the toxicity of tobacco smoke by decreasing the amount of carbon monoxide.