Abstract
Ten successive 1 kg samples of cigarette smoke condensate were prepared and the neutrals were removed by solvent partitioning of each kg. After removal of a control sample (41.2 %), the remainder of the neutrals were separated by adsorption chromatography on silicic acid followed by partitioning of the eluates between polar and nonpolar solvents, yielding a total of 10 fractions for biological study. A range of recoveries from 94-109 % of the neutrals was obtained in the ten successive runs; the overall average recovery was 102 %. Small amounts of strongly adsorbed material not eluted from the adsorption columns by the technic could be removed in part by other procedures. Using this method, benzo[a]pyrene was concentrated to a high degree in one fraction, thus permitting the detection of biologically active nonpolynuclear agents in the other fractions on bioassay. Exclusion of light during separation did not alter significantly the benzo[a]pyrene levels obtained in the polynuclear-enriched fraction.