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

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.