Quantitative Determination of Menthol in a Single Puff of Mainstream Cigarette Smoke

A method for the determination of menthol in a single puff of mainstream cigarette smoke is reported. A rotary smoking machine with a twin filter interface was used to smoke cigarettes with varying menthol and “tar” deliveries determined based on the Cambridge filter method. The twin filter interface mechanically switches to a new filter pad for collection of smoke from each cigarette puff. The individual filter pad extracts were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to determine menthol puff-by-puff deliveries. Menthol puff-by-puff profiles show an increase in menthol smoke delivery with increasing puff count, a trend consistent with total particulate matter and smoke delivery profiles of other mainstream smoke constituents. The sum of single puff menthol deliveries is comparable to the whole cigarette menthol smoke delivery as collected on a single filter pad. This method can also determine quantitative puff-by-puff deliveries of other mainstream cigarette smoke constituents.