Distinguishing legal and illegal cigarettes by applying paper spray mass spectrometry and chemometric tools

Abstract

Rationale:Smoking is responsible for one in five deaths around the world. Thus, governments have been trying to reduce the number of active smokers by increasing taxes on products. This scenario creates a new problem by raising the consumption of illegally traded cigarettes, which are often seized and analyzed by police forces.Methods: Legal and illegal cigarette samples were extracted and analyzed using paper spray ionization mass spectrometry (PS-MS). The mass spectrometer was set to operate in full-scan positive ion mode to yield representative chemical profiles of each sample. The results were used to build a chemometric model using partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to discriminate between both sets of samples, i.e. legal and illegal. Results:The PS-MS procedure was fast, simple and efficient, yielding high-quality and reproducible mass spectra with a very good signal-to-noise ratio. Even though all samples displayed visually indistinguishable mass spectra, the PS-MS data handled by the PLS-DA approach furnished a model that reached sample classification with rates of 100% and 80% for the training and validation sets, respectively. Conclusions:A novel methodology was successfully developed associating the PS-MS technique with chemometric analysis to differentiate between legal and illegal cigarettes. The PS-MS technique proved to be adequate for obtaining fingerprints of such types of samples despite high complexity, and a PLS-DA model was successfully constructed achieving 82.1% accuracy.

Interpol Review of Drug Analysis 2019-2022

“…2019 a nano-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (nAPCI) source was developed that allowed direct mass spectrometry analysis of complex mixtures [ 1032 ]; two-dimensional tandem mass spectrometry (2D MS/MS) scan for the linear quadrupole ion trap for analyzing a broad range of structurally related precursor ions, including chemical warfare agent simulants, fentanyls and other opioids, amphetamines, cathinones, antihistamines, and tetracyclic antidepressants [ 1033 ]; 2020 paper spray ionization mass spectrometry (PS-MS) for chemometric differentiation of legal and illegal cigarette samples [ 1034 ]; 2021 review of commercially available and fieldable mass spectrometry systems that have been deployed for on-site analysis of seized drugs, chemical warfare agents, explosives, and other analytes of interest to the forensic and security communities [ 1035 ]; a MasSpec pen integrated with sub-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (sub-APCI) for forensic applications [ 1036 ]; SPE-ESI for complex sample analysis [ 1037 ]; 2022 paper spray mass spectrometry for quantitative drug checking [ 1038 ]; a systematic characterization of paper spray ionization-mass spectrometry (PSI-MS) performance under variable environmental conditions on a field-deployable MS system [ 1039 ].…”

Moral dilemma in deciding on the amount of excise tax on tobacco products in the Czech Republic

“…Smoking is considered a cause of one in five deaths worldwide. Therefore, governments try to reduce the number of active smokers by increasing taxes on tobacco products, which increases the consumption of illegal cigarettes, which are often seized and analyzed by police forces (Jurisch, de Paula, Augusti, 2020). According to Schafferer et al (2018), illicit trade with cigarettes increases both the demand and affordability of tobacco products.…”