A Stability Indicating HPLC Method to Determine Actual Content and Stability of Nicotine within Electronic Cigarette Liquids

Mahima Bansal, Manisha Sharma, Chris Bullen and Darren Svirskis
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Mahima Bansal: School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1023, New Zealand
Manisha Sharma: School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1023, New Zealand
Chris Bullen: National Institute for Health Innovation, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Darren Svirskis: School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1023, New Zealand

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 8, 1-11

Abstract: (1) Background: Despite the growing use of e-cigarettes, in most countries, there is no regulation covering manufacturing standards of the solution (‘e-liquid’), leading to concerns over the accuracy of labelling and stability of the products under a range of conditions. Following the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requirements for manufacture of e-liquids, we aimed to develop a simple high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method to determine nicotine content in nicotine-containing e-liquids, even in the presence of degradation products; (2) Methods: We developed an HPLC method to quantify nicotine in the presence of the two major constituents of all e-liquids, glycerine and propylene glycol, and in the presence of degradation products; (3) Results: Our HPLC method performed strongly and was validated according to international guidelines. For the e-liquids tested, nicotine content levels were all higher than labelled (up to 117.9 ± 1.87% of the labelled content). While nicotine was shown to be unstable at 60 °C, it was stabilized at this temperature in the e-liquid formulations for up to 10 days; and (4) Conclusions: The HPLC method is suitable for adoption by laboratories to determine the actual content and stability of nicotine-containing products. The higher than labelled nicotine levels in e-liquids raises clinical and public health concerns.

Keywords: nicotine; HPLC; stability-indicating; e-cigarettes; e-liquids (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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