1,1-Dimethylhydrazine, also known as unsymdimethylhydrazine (UDMH) and
vinyl acetate (VA), are both classified by the International Agency for Research on
Cancer as 2B
carcinogens (possibly carcinogenic to humans) and listed as cigarette
smoke constituents; however, there is little or no quantitative data available on them. For UDMH in cigarette
smoke, neither a yield nor a method has been published. For VA, the most recent information on yields dates back to 1965. To bridge this gap, we have developed new gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric methods for both compounds to determine their yields in cigarette
smoke. UDMH is determined by derivatization with
2-nitrobenzaldehyde in
methanol and is not found in cigarette
smoke at levels above the detection limit of 19 ng/cig. In further experiments, when UDMH is added to the
smoke stream or air stream of lit or unlit cigarettes, the derivative 2-nitrobenzaldehyde-2,2-dimethylhydrazone is found only in the air stream of the unlit cigarettes. From this, we conclude that UDMH is either not formed during smoking at all or, if it is, it reacts immediately and quantitatively with other
smoke constituents (e.g.,
aldehydes) and is therefore not detectable in cigarette
smoke. VA is determined by trapping in
acetone at -78 degrees C and is found at a concentration of 270 ng/cig for a standard reference cigarette with a
cellulose acetate filter (the reference cigarette 1 R4F). In the literature, VA is reported at concentrations of 1.6 microg/cig for a cigarette with a
cellulose acetate/
charcoal filter and 4 microg/cig for a cigarette with a
cellulose acetate filter and for an unfiltered cigarette.