Abstract
A gas chromatographic method is described which is suitable for the quantitative routine determination of CO in tobacco smoke. The CO is separated from other gases on a moderately activated molecular sieve column and is quantitatively determined after hydrogenation on a nickel-contact at 290°C with a flame ionisation detector. The method is characterized by high sensitivity and great stability of the separation column. A comparison of a "constant flow" smoking machine and a smoking machine operated by pistons, in the course of which a container filled with a saturated solution of sodium chloride or a polyvinylchloride bag was employed for gas storing, led to comparable results. The addition of NaNO3 (8 %) reduced the CO value by 30 %. Filters have no influence on the CO yield