In 2019, a collaborative study (CS) was launched in an effort to expand the scopes of CRM No. 75 and CRM No. 58, currently only valid for cigarettes, to include cigar smoke analysis for tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs) and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), respectively. Additionally, an experiment to determine the feasibility of simultaneous analysis for volatile organics (VO) (CRM No. 70/ISO 21330) was included.

The smoking related parameters were reviewed and statistical analysis was carried out following the ISO standard 5725 to generate repeatability (r) and reproducibility (R) for TSNAs.

Based on the results of this study, CRM No. 75 will be updated to include initial r&R values for TSNA analytes.  B[a]P participation was too low to warrant the addition of even preliminary r&R values to the CRM. The feasibility experiment with volatile organics (VO) indicates that this work has merit and should be considered for inclusion in SA SG plans as priority and timing allows.