Overview
ISO 23919:2020 - "Cigarettes - Determination of ammonia in cigarette mainstream smoke using ion chromatography" specifies a validated laboratory method to quantify ammonia in cigarette mainstream smoke. The procedure uses ISO 3308 smoking parameters and ion chromatography analysis. It applies to cigarettes with ammonia yields of 1 µg/cigarette to 30 µg/cigarette and is explicitly not applicable to dark‑air cured cigarettes. The method is based on a CORESTA recommended method (CRM 83) and includes interlaboratory validation and statistical evaluation.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Sampling & smoking regime
- Machine smoking performed on an ISO 3308–compliant analytical smoking machine.
- Guidance on tobacco product preparation, sampling and smoking-machine setup.
- Trapping systems (two validated alternatives)
- Trapping system 1: Glass fibre filter pad followed by series impinger traps containing dilute sulphuric acid.
- Trapping system 2: Impregnated glass fibre filter pad followed by an untreated glass fibre filter pad.
- Both systems were shown to give equivalent results in the collaborative study.
- Extraction & analysis
- Extraction of ammonia from filter pads/impingers using specified dilute acid solutions (sulphuric or hydrochloric).
- Analysis by ion chromatography with conductivity detection and conductivity suppression.
- Use of a cation exchange analytical column (example: Dionex IonPac CS16) and external standard calibration.
- Reagents & preparations
- Includes preparation details for eluents and standards: sulphuric acid eluents, methanesulphonic acid (MSA) eluent, hydrochloric acid impregnation/extraction solutions, and primary ammonium stock from ammonium sulfate.
- Quality and performance
- Calibration, calculation, and reporting requirements.
- Repeatability and reproducibility data from a 2015 collaborative study are included.
- Safety note
- The standard warns about hazardous materials and laboratory safety responsibilities.
Applications and users
ISO 23919:2020 is intended for:
- Analytical laboratories performing tobacco product emission testing.
- Regulatory bodies and standards organizations requiring standardized ammonia emission data.
- Product development and quality control teams in the tobacco industry.
- Research groups studying cigarette smoke chemistry and product hazard assessment.
Practical uses include characterizing ammonia emissions for design, regulatory compliance, method comparison, and controlled laboratory studies. Users should note that machine smoking data are not direct measures of human exposure or risk and should be interpreted accordingly.
Related standards
- ISO 3308 - routine analytical cigarette-smoking machine (definitions & standard conditions)
- ISO 3402 - conditioning and testing atmosphere for tobacco
- ISO 4387 - determination of particulate matter using a routine smoking machine
- ISO 8243 - cigarettes - sampling
Keywords: ISO 23919:2020, ammonia determination, cigarette mainstream smoke, ion chromatography, ISO 3308, trapping system, impinger, impregnated filter pad, analytical method.