Real-time monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in cigarette smoke using time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence

Cigarette smoke contains a large number of chemicals and gaseous compounds including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Due to the importance of PAHs and their health effects in cigarettes, development of systems to analyze PAHs in cigarette smoke may become useful in developing a less harmful product. However, the complexity of cigarette smoke chemistry remains a significant obstacle in its analysis: many cigarette smoke components are produced due to reactions such as decomposition and recombination of cigarette components during the smoking process. Methods to analyze these reactions in real-time are needed. In this article the authors report direct monitoring of pyrene in mainstream smoke using time-gated laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) based on fiber optics. The time-gated detection system could provide a reduced background signal of mainstream smoke when using optimized gate delay and gate width parameters. The results demonstrate the feasibility of direct monitoring of PAHs in mainstream smoke.

Duke Scholars

Author Tuan Vo-Dinh Biomedical Engineering