Tunable Diode Laser Applications To Cigarette Smoke Analysis

High resolution infrared tunable diode laser spectroscopy (TDL) has been applied to the study of cigarette smoke for qualitative and quantitative determinations involved in tobacco blend and cigarette filter developments. As examples of the different types of application of this work, several TDL studies are presented. The measurements of smoke components on a puff-by-puff basis in confined sample chambers and flowing streams were used to study the smoke component deliveries and the effects of filter dilution. The study of isotopes generated during combustion of chemically treated tobaccos was another application of the TDL system to complex gas mixtures without prior separation of compo-nents. The application of the TDL to the study of cigarette filters and smoke delivery simultaneously was demonstrated by using two well resolved absorption lines of two different gases which occur on a single TDL wavelength scan.