Analysis of toxic heavy metals in cigarettes by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis

Peer review under responsibility of Taibah University.

Figures & data

Table 3 Trace element levels in (ppm) in cigarette tobacco, as determined by INAA.

Sample Code	Br (ppm)	Sb (ppm)	Sc (ppm)	Ba (ppm)	Hf (ppm)	Eu (ppm)	Yb (ppm)	Th (ppm)
M1	193.20	1.02	0.4	134.0	0.8	0.06	0.19	0.4
M2	135.7	0.89	0.10	194.0	0.5	0.05	0.38	0.5
M3	226.3	0.86	0.14	214.0	0.75	0.08	0.29	0.4
M4	199.5	0.03	0.7	174.0	1.30	0.11	0.45	0.6
M5	218.4	2.0	0.13	123.0	1.92	0.09	0.78	0.9
M6	179.9	0.9	0.15	130.0	0.9	0.12	0.93	0.7
M7	193.7	1.5	0.5	143.8	1.03	0.2	0.16	0.4
M8	169.2	1.2	0.16	122.0	1.04	0.3	0.88	0.2
M9	157.0	1.9	2.1	124.0	0.9	0.16	0.84	0.8
M10	164.0	2.6	0.61	133.0	0.8	0.4	1.22	0.9

Table 1 Half-life and energy results for some of the radionuclides produced.

Element	Radioisotopes produced	Half-life	Energy (keV)	Rate (%)
Na	Na^24	15 hours	2754.0	2.32
K	^42K	12.4 hours	1524.6	97.32
Ca	^49Ca	8.72 minutes	3084.5	80.79
Rb	^86Rb	18.7 days	1076.6	8.79
Mg	^27Mg	9.46 minutes	1014.4	17.96
Br	^82Br	35.3 hours	776.5	83.5
Sb	^122Sb	64.8 hours	564.2	49.05
Sc	^46Sc	83.8 days	889.3	100
Ba	^131Ba	11.8 days	496.3	0.301
Hf	^181Hf	42.4 days	4808.0	26
Cd	^115Cd	53.5 hours	527	0.36
Eu	^152Eu	13.3 years	1408.0	0.01
Yb	^175Yb	4.19 days	396.3	0.003
Th	^233Pa	27 days	312.0	0.05

Fig. 1 Relative efficiency curve.

Table 2 Trace element levels (in ppm or %) in cigarette tobacco, as determined by INAA.

Sample Code	ELEMENTS
	Na (ppm)	K (%)	Ca (%)	Rb (ppm)	Mg (%)	Cd (ppm)
M1	805.1	5.60	2.7	27.35	1.56	4.6
M2	478.2	6.26	2.65	29.35	1.62	4.3
M3	254.5	8.11	2.89	42.98	1.66	4.9
M4	635.0	3.71	2.75	51.35	0.53	4.8
M5	769.4	3.55	3.89	84.35	0.58	5.9
M6	589.9	4.40	13.9	63.90	2.38	3.3
M7	144.6	3.38	11.5	41.77	2.06	5.6
M8	669.6	2.81	16.9	33.35	1.80	6.4
M9	759.5	3.36	21.75	47.35	2.83	2.8
M10	419.8	4.16	16.3	32.78	3.7	1.6

Table 4 Comparability of the results of studies of trace element contents in cigarettes from various countries [18–21].

Element	Egypt	Algeria	Turkey	Iran	Mexican	Brazilian
Ca %	9.523 ± 7.37	3.14–3.77	–	–	–	–
K %	4.534 ± 1.65	3.67–3.75	2.6	0.220 ± 0.005	1.83–4.03	–
Sc	0.5 ± 0.60	0.258–0.362	0.35	0.43 ± 0.03	0.13–0.22	0.23–1.50
Br	182.39 ± 28.06	119.6–136.9	59.2	137 ± 2	63.510	–
Sb	1.29 ± 0.73	0.089–0.180	0.10	0.68 ± 0.03	0.5816	0.079–0.47
Ba	149.1 ± 32.95	100.3–101.3	64.6	1.15 ± 0.01	250.65	45.8–99.7
Eu	0.11 ± 0.157	0.022–0.039	0.034	0.045 ± 0.010	0.0730	0.036–0.037
Hf	0.39. ± 0.99	0.127–0.224	0.15	0.09 ± 0.01	0.03– 0.13	0.15–0.87
Th	0.24 ± 0.58	0.159–0.320	0.32	0.177 ± 0.010	0.1–0.17	0.34–4.00
Na	224.58 ± 552.5	804.2–1028	394	3470. ± 18	309–566	–
Rb	17.66 ± 45.45	24.0–36.8	17.7	2260. ± 3.6	19–50	30.3–45.0

Fig. 2 Relationships among the concentration levels of K, Sc, Br, Sb, Ba, Eu, Hf, Th, Na, Rb and Ca for Egypt and various other countries.