Chemometric and trace element profiling methodologies for authenticating, crossmatching and constraining the provenance of illicit tobacco products

Presence of Counterfeit Marlboro Gold Packs in Licensed Retail Stores in New York City: Evidence From Test Purchases

BACKGROUND

There are no independent studies measuring the availability of premium brand counterfeit cigarettes in New York City from licensed retailers.

METHODS

We forensically analyzed the cigarette packaging of Marlboro Gold (n = 1021) purchased from licensed tobacco retailers in New York City, using ultraviolet irradiation and light microscopy to determine whether they were counterfeit.

RESULTS

We find that while only 0.5% (n = 5) of our sample exhibits at least one characteristic synonymous with counterfeit packaging, none of our packs can be conclusively classified as counterfeit.

CONCLUSIONS

We do not find any counterfeit Marlboro Gold packs purchased at full price from licensed cigarette retailers throughout New York City. Future research using test purchases should include other venues (eg, street and online) and specifically ask for discounts to ascertain the overall presence of counterfeit cigarettes.

IMPLICATIONS

This is the first study to independently measure the availability of counterfeit cigarette packs purchased at full price from licensed retailers in New York City. We find that none of the Marlboro Gold packs purchased from licensed cigarette retailers are counterfeit.

A Strategy for Efficiently Collecting Aerosol Condensate Using Silica Fibers: Application to Carbonyl Emissions from E-Cigarettes

Analyzing harmful constituents in e-cigarette aerosols typically involves adopting a methodology used for analyzing tobacco smoke. Cambridge filter pads (CFP) are the basis of numerous protocols for analyzing the various classes of compounds representing 93 harmful and potentially harmful constituents identified in tobacco smoke by the FDA. This paper describes a simplified method for trapping the low volatility components of e-cigarette aerosols using a single trapping procedure followed by physical extraction. The trap is a plug of amorphous silica fibers (0.75 g of 4 μm diameter) within a 10 mL syringe inserted between the e-cigarette mouthpiece and the pump of the vaping machine. The method is evaluated for emissions from three generations of e-cigarette device (Kangertech CE4, EVOD, and Subox Mini-C). On average, the silica wool traps about 94% of the vaporized liquid mass in the three devices and higher levels of condensate is retained before reaching saturation compared with CFP. The condensate is then physically extracted from the silica wool plug using a centrifuge. Condensate is then available for use directly in multiple analytical procedures or toxicological experiments. The method is tested by comparison with published analyses of carbonyls, among the most potent toxicants and carcinogens in e-cigarette emissions. Ranges for HPLC-DAD analyses of carbonyl-DNPH derivatives in a laboratory formulation of e-liquid are formaldehyde (0.182 ± 0.023 to 9.896 ± 0.709 μg puff-1), acetaldehyde (0.059 ± 0.005 to 0.791 ± 0.073 μg puff-1), and propionaldehyde (0.008 ± 0.0001 to 0.033 ± 0.023 μg puff-1); other carbonyls are identified and quantified. Carbonyl concentrations are also consistent with published experiments showing marked increases with variable power settings (10W to 50W). Compared with CFPs, e-cigarette aerosol collection by silica wool requires only one vaping session for multiple analyte groups, traps more condensate per puff, and collects more condensate before saturation.