Unifying Passive Air Sampling with Paper Spray Ionization Mass Spectrometry for the Detection of Third-Hand Cigarette Smoke.
- 1Department of Chemistry, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Rd., Hsinchu300044, Taiwan.
Abstract
To mitigate human exposure to air pollutants amid the increasing chemicalization of daily life, simple and rapid monitoring methods are required. As individuals spend a significant portion of their time indoors, indoor air quality has become a critical factor affecting human health and is influenced by a wide range of indoor and outdoor pollution sources. The sorption and desorption of indoor air pollutants on solid surfaces (the so-called sink effect) can gradually increase pollutant concentrations and lead to changes in indoor air quality. In particular, third-hand smoke (THS), a persistent form of indoor pollution, poses potential health risks through inhalation, dermal contact, and ingestion. Air sampling and analysis can be tedious and costly. Here, we present a very simple method that unifies passive sampling of THS onto paper and subsequent analysis by paper spray ionization (PSI) mass spectrometry (MS). Mass spectrometric results revealed the presence of nicotine, a major constituent of tobacco smoke, in THS samples collected using a custom-built passive sampler, which was further confirmed by MS/MS analysis. The applicability of this approach was further extended to a forensic context by detecting nicotine on book pages, which were previously exposed to cigarette smoke, using filter papers as sampling media. Overall, passive air sampling onto paper─combined with PSI-MS─provides a simple, cost-effective, and time-efficient way for indoor air quality monitoring and forensic analysis.
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BibTeX
@article{ke2026unifying,
title = {{Unifying Passive Air Sampling with Paper Spray Ionization Mass Spectrometry for the Detection of Third-Hand Cigarette Smoke.}},
author = {Bo-Cheng Ke and Noor Hidayat Abu Bakar and Pawel L Urban},
journal = {Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/jasms.6c00271},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42916758},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Unifying Passive Air Sampling with Paper Spray Ionization Mass Spectrometry for the Detection of Third-Hand Cigarette Smoke.
AU - Bo-Cheng Ke
AU - Noor Hidayat Abu Bakar
AU - Pawel L Urban
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry
DO - 10.1021/jasms.6c00271
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42916758
AB - To mitigate human exposure to air pollutants amid the increasing chemicalization of daily life, simple and rapid monitoring methods are required. As individuals spend a significant portion of their time indoors, indoor air quality has become a critical factor affecting human health and is influenced by a wide range of indoor and outdoor pollution sources. The sorption and desorption of indoor air pollutants on solid surfaces (the so-called sink effect) can gradually increase pollutant concentrations and lead to changes in indoor air quality. In particular, third-hand smoke (THS), a persistent form of indoor pollution, poses potential health risks through inhalation, dermal contact, and ingestion. Air sampling and analysis can be tedious and costly. Here, we present a very simple method that unifies passive sampling of THS onto paper and subsequent analysis by paper spray ionization (PSI) mass spectrometry (MS). Mass spectrometric results revealed the presence of nicotine, a major constituent of tobacco smoke, in THS samples collected using a custom-built passive sampler, which was further confirmed by MS/MS analysis. The applicability of this approach was further extended to a forensic context by detecting nicotine on book pages, which were previously exposed to cigarette smoke, using filter papers as sampling media. Overall, passive air sampling onto paper─combined with PSI-MS─provides a simple, cost-effective, and time-efficient way for indoor air quality monitoring and forensic analysis.
SN - 1044-0305
SN - 1879-1123
ER -