Analysis of Tobacco-Specific Nitrosamines in Cigarette Tobacco, Cigar Tobacco, and Smokeless Tobacco by Isotope Dilution LC-MS/MS.

Tobacco-specific nitrosamines are important carcinogens in tobacco products. This article describes a fast, sensitive, selective, and robust method for analysis of these compounds in various tobacco samples by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The separation of analytes from matrix interfering components was performed using a C18 column with simple LC-MS mobile phases. To minimize sample matrix effects on each analyte, a separate internal standard was used for each analyte. Two MS/MS ion pairs were used for each analyte for analyte confirmation and quantification, further enhancing the method's selectivity and accuracy. The method was validated using different tobacco matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]