ION MOBILITY SPECTROMETRY FOR CONTINUOUS ON-SITE MONITORING OF NICOTINE VAPORS IN AIR DURING THE MANUFACTURE OF TRANSDERMAL SYSTEMS

Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) can provide continuous on-site monitor ing of nicotine in air exceeding in real-time the current OSHA eight h our exposure standard of 0.5 mg/m(3). A handheld IMS with water reagen t gas, exhibited near instantaneous response, detection limits of 0.00 6 mg/m(3) and median relative standard deviations of 3.1% for vapor le vels between 0.01 to 0.25 mg/m(3). Ion mobility spectra for nicotine s howed characteristic product ions which were mass-identified as monome r (M . H+) and dimer (M(2) . H+) ions. Continuous monitoring of ambien t air during the manufacture of nicotine-based transdermal systems dem onstrated that short-lived, elevated concentrations of iso-propanol oc curred when surfaces on the production equipment were cleaned. However , the concentration profile for nicotine in ambient air showed a gradu al rise to a plateau with only minor ripple. High variability in perso nal samplers was attributed to localized concentrations of nicotine in the production equipment as identified using the hand-held IMS analyz er.