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The electronic cigarette (E-cigarette) is a battery-powered device that aerosolizes nicotine so that it is readily delivered into the respiratory tract. The analytical data regarding the substances present in E-cigarettes are very limited. The aim of this study was to measure the concentration of aldehydes-formaldehyde (FA), acetaldehyde (AA) and, acrolein (AL)-in 225 replacement liquid brands from 17 E-cigarette shops sold in the Republic of Korea by headspace solid-phase micro extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME GC-MS). The concentration range of FA and AA was 0.02-10.09 mg/L (mean = 2.16 mg/L, detected in 207 of 225 samples) and 0.10-15.63 mg/L (mean = 4.98 mg/L, detected in all samples), respectively. AL was not detected in any of 225 replacement liquids. FA and AA were originally present in almost all replacement liquids of electronic cigarettes.

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An analytical method for the detection of 14 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) was developed to investigate VOCs in refill fluids and cartridges of electronic cigarettes (EC) using headspace solid-phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In total, 14 VOCs were identified and quantified in 283 flavored liquids, 21 nicotine liquids, and 12 disposable cartridges. The detected concentration ranges of the VOCs are as follows: benzene (0.008-2.28 mg L), toluene (0.006-0.687 mg L), ethylbenzene (0.01-1.21 mg L), m-xylene (0.002-1.13 mg L), p-xylene (0.007-2.8 mg L), o-xylene (0.004-2.27 mg L), styrene (0.011-0.339 mg L), ethyl acetate (0.3-669.9 mg L), ethanol (16-38,742 mg L), methanol (66-3375 mg L), pyridine (0.077-99.7 mg L), acetylpyrazine (0.077-147 mg L), 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (0.008-96.8 mg L), and octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (0.1-57.2 mg L). Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m-xylene, p-xylene, and o-xylene coexisted in samples, which may have originated from the use of petrogenic hydrocarbons as an extraction solvent for flavor and nicotine from natural plants. The maximum detected concentrations of benzene, methanol, and ethanol in liquid samples were found in quantities higher than their authorized maximum limits as residual solvents in pharmaceutical products.

A sensitive method was developed to simultaneously determine 15 biomarkers of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in human saliva using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This study also confirmed that the phthalate diesters were converted by glucuronidase/aryl sulfatase to their respective primary metabolites -mono-esters, but not to the secondary metabolites. The amount of 100 μL β-glucuronidase/aryl sulfatase hydrolyzed about 95% of the phthalate diesters (500 μg/L) within 3 h. The problems of hydrolysis of phthalate diesters by β-glucuronidase/aryl sulfatase are discussed. Ethyl acetate and acetonitrile were selected as extraction and disperser solvents in DLLME, and then the extracts were subjected to derivatization with N-methyl-N-(tert-bultyl dimethyl silyl) trifluoroacetamide directly without concentration after extraction. After optimizing the required conditions, good linearity of analytes was achieved. The limit of detection (LOD) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) were in the ranges of 0.015-3.0 μg/L and 0.05-10 μg/L, respectively.