Determination of gaseous nicotine in ambient air by high performance liquid chromatography

OBJECTIVE: To establish the determination of gaseous nicotine in ambient air using high performance liquid chromatography. METHODS: The nicotine samples of ambient air were collected by passive air samples. The Sample film was sonicated, extracted, evaporated with nitrogen sweeping, and dissolved with the mobile phase. Nicotine was separated by C18 reversed-phase column, examined by ultraviolet detector, quantified by peak area and qualitatively measured by its retentive time. RESULTS: The limit of detection and the limit of quantification is 30 ng/mL, 101 ng/mL, respectively. The precision is characterized by RSD in the rage 0.24% -2.62%. The average recovery of sample is in the rage of 82.0% -107.2%. The samples can be kept more than 11 days in the dry state of room temperature after sealing. CONCLUSION: The method is suitable for the determination of nicotine concentration in public places air.