Analysis of Phenol in Cigarette Filter Tar Using QuEChERS Sample Preparation and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography/UV Detection System

QuEChERS sample preparation was used for determination of phenol in cigarette filter tar. The method involved extraction with acetonitrile followed by solid-phase extraction cleanup with XAD-4 sorbent and the analyse was carried out with a HPLC-UV equipment. The method was validated using cigarette filter tar spiked at 30-125 mu g cigarette(-1) and the recovery by the method varied from 83 % to 120 % with RSD < 15 %. The method showed good linearity (r(2) = 0.9989) and the LOD was 2.17 mu g cigarette(-1). The amount of phenol found in the filter tar of the three brands of cigarettes were 13.02, 10.23 and 6.08 mu g cigarette(-1), respectively.