[savoy7]

I would like to develop an extraction of the chemicals filtered from cigarettes.  

With more places banning smoking, smokers have gone outside to smoke.  They toss their butts on the ground.  Many of these butts end up in storm sewers and eventually in waterways.  These chemicals accumalate and are toxic in organisms.  I would like to extract the chemicals from the filters, dilute it and determine the LD50/LC50 of the extraction using shrimp brine.  I would like to develop this assay for students.

If anyone has any ideas let me know:
1)  filters are usually cellulose acetate
2)  extract medium can not be harmful, only what is extracted should be tested
3)  referring to 2, the medium could be volatile

for example I used methanol for other extracts and evaporated it off - hard to dissolve the residue afterwards


I would appreciate any thoughts,
savoy

[jdurg]

This would be a very difficult thing to do as there is a vast mixture of organic and inorganic compounds in there.  You have traces of lead, arsenic, uranium, cadmium, nicotine, benzene-like substances, and various other nasties.  I really don't see a safe, cheap, or effective method of accomplishing what you have set out to do.    You might be better off just picking one compound and trying to go with that one.