NICOTINE IN HAIR OF SMOKERS AND NONSMOKERS - SAMPLING PROCEDURE AND GAS-CHROMATOGRAPHIC MASS-SPECTROMETRIC ANALYSIS

A gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric method for analysis of nicoti ne in scalp hair and measurements of nicotine in hair from 20 smokers and non-smokers with a one year interval are presented. The gas chroma tographic/mass spectrometric method, based on selected ion monitoring of the ion m/z 162, with ions m/z 133 and 84 as qualifier ions, allows a highly selective and sensitive detection of nicotine in hair sample s avoiding interference from other chemicals present in hair. Nicotine is extracted after alkaline dissolution i 5M NaOH. The sampling proce dure takes into account that significant amounts of nicotine in hair i s probably adsorbed and deposited from atmospheric air. In consequence , the hair samples must be taken from a site with sufficient contact w ith surrounding air and the measured concentration of nicotine must be related to the length of the hair segment and its distance from the s calp. Our study demonstrated very clear and statistically significant differences in the concentrations of nicotine in hair from smokers and non-smokers, a high reproducibility of hair nicotine measurements ove r time, and that the presented method is sensitive enough to detect in dividual changes not only in smoking habits, but also in environmental nicotine exposure.