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Tobacco Products Laboratory (TPL)

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Program Capabilities

The Tobacco Products Laboratory (TPL) which is IEC 17025-accredited, was designated as the primary FDA tobacco-testing laboratory charged to uphold the mandates of the Tobacco Act after the President signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA) on June 22, 2009. This law gave FDA regulatory authority over the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of tobacco products. The Center of Tobacco Products (CTP) sets the regulatory guidelines on tobacco products, and TPL is responsible for providing the analytical support.

Specialized Capabilities

TPL houses a number of instruments for the physical, chemical, and microbiological analysis of tobacco products. These include: PCR, LC/MS/MS, GC/MS, Ultra GC, GC TOFMS, HPLC, and QE MS. In addition this group also has equipment specific to the needs of tobacco and smoking product testing including: E-Cigarette Smoking Machine, Linear Cigar Smoking Machine, and Cigarette Paper Permeability Instruments. To date, the laboratory has developed and validated more than 25 analytical methods for the targeted measurement of a number of harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) in a variety of tobacco products. TPL is currently building the capacity to analyze all pre-market tobacco applications (PMTAs) and modified-risk tobacco products (MRTPs) that are received by CTP.

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