Monitoring of nicotine in air using sorptive enrichment on polydimethylsiloxane and TD-CGC-NPD

A novel method for the enrichment of nicotine from gaseous samples is prese nted. It is based on the sampling of 6 liters of air onto a cartridge packe d with 100 % polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) particles. The analytes are dissol ved (partitioned) into the PDMS phase which results in much better recoveri es and reproducibilities compared to those obtained on common adsorbents. T he PDMS tube is then placed in a thermal desorption (TD) unit connected to a CGC-NPD or CGC-MS system. The procedure was employed for routinely monito ring air in a hospital. Nicotine was typically found at levels ranging from 5 to 250 mu g m(-3) (ppb) depending on the location and number of smokers present. Additionally, the efficiency of nicotine filters was determined by sampling simultaneously at the filter in- and outlet and was found to be 4 6 %.