Quantification of arsenic and cadmium in nicotine pouches

Background Nicotine pouches have rapidly gained popularity as tobacco-free alternatives to traditional smokeless tobacco. Cadmium (Cd) is a well-known contaminant in tobacco cigarettes, yet data on trace arsenic (As) and Cd in these products remain limited.Methods An inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) method is optimized for quantifying As and Cd in seven commercial nicotine pouch brands using microwave-assisted with nitric acid digestion. The method is rigorously validated according to Eurachem and International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) guidelines.Results The method achieves limits of detection (LOD) of 0.0009 µg/g for As and 0.0006 µg/g for Cd with excellent linearity (R2 ≥ 0.998). As concentrations ranged from below the limit of quantification (LOQ) to 0.042 µg/g, while Cd concentrations ranged from 0.021 to 0.065 µg/g. All measured concentrations are well below U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Closer to Zero reference values (As ≤ 0.1 µg/g; Cd ≤ 0.2 µg/g) and 5–70 times lower than those reported in nass, a traditional Iranian smokeless tobacco product.Conclusion Five of the seven brands contained detectable As, and all seven brands contained detectable Cd using highly sensitive ICP-OES. However, all concentrations remained below the maximum allowable limits set by the U.S. FDA.