Analysis of nicotine and cotinine in hair by on-line in-tube solid-phase microextraction coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry as biomarkers of exposure to tobacco smoke

Assessment of long-term exposure to nicotine and cotinine is possible from only 1 mg of hair. Nicotine and cotinine concentrations in the hair of smokers were significantly higher than those in non-smokers. [Display omitted] •On-line in-tube solid-phase microextraction of nicotine and cotinine was optimized.•Nicotine and cotinine were simultaneously determined by in-tube SPME coupled with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry.•This method is automated, simple, rapid, selective, and sensitive.•This method was utilized successfully to analyze pg/mg levels of nicotine and cotinine in only 1 mg of hairs of non-smokers and smokers.•The method is useful for the assessment of long-term exposure to tobacco smoke. Smoking not only increases the risk of lung cancer but is strongly related to the onset of cardiovascular disease. Particularly, passive smoking due to sidestream smoke is a critical public health problem. To assess active and passive exposure to tobacco smoke, we developed a simple and sensitive method, consisting of on-line in-tube solid phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), to determine nicotine and its metabolite cotinine in hair samples. These compounds were separated within 5 min using a Polar-RP80A column and detected in the positive ion mode by multiple reaction monitoring. The optimum in-tube SPME conditions were 25 draw/eject cycles of 40 μL of sample at a flow rate of 200 μL/min using a Carboxen 1006 capillary column as an extraction device. The extracted compounds in the stationary phase on the inner wall of the capillary could be dissolved easily into the mobile phase and transferred to an LC column. Using the in-tube SPME LC–MS/MS method, the calibration curves were linear in the 5–1000 pg/mL ranges for nicotine and cotinine, and the detection limits (signal to noise ratio of 3) were 0.45 and 0.13 pg/mL, respectively. The intra-day and inter-day precisions were below 3.4% and 6.0% (n = 5), respectively. This method was utilized successfully to analyze pg/mg levels of nicotine and cotinine in 1 mg of hairs without interference peaks, and good recoveries were obtained. The concentration of cotinine in hair was two orders of magnitude lower than that of nicotine, but a good positive correlation was found between the concentrations of these compounds. This method can automate the extraction, concentration and analysis of samples, and is useful for the assessment of long-term