A near real-time method for measuring hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) in aqueous extracts of cigarette smoke, without needing to separate the sample, has been developed by chemists in the US. 

Tuan Vo-Dinh and colleagues at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Philip Morris USA Research Center used a sensitive and selective fluorescence detection method that only needs a two minute incubation time before analysis.   

It has long been suspected that reactive oxygen species like H₂O₂, play an important role in the harmful effects of cigarette smoke.   

Well established techniques for analysing H₂O₂ in simple samples cannot be applied to whole cigarette smoke which is made up of several thousand components.   

The researchers hope their work will lead to a better understanding of the relationship between cigarette smoke and disease, and will help to uncover how the different constituents of smoke affect the human body.   

Chris Ingle