Summary
Introduction:
This article presents a study that aimed to characterize the chemical complexity of e-cigarette aerosols and compare them to cigarette smoke. The study used a combination of targeted and untargeted chemical analysis approaches to examine the number of compounds comprising the aerosol, investigate the contributions of e-liquid flavors to aerosol complexity, and seek the sources of other aerosol constituents. Emissions of 98 aerosol toxicants were quantified and compared to those in smoke from a reference tobacco cigarette generated under two different smoking regimes.
Key Points:
* The study identified between 94 and 139 compounds in the flavored aerosols, compared to an estimated 72 –79 in the unflavored aerosol.
* The aerosol composition was found to be significantly less complex (by 1-2 orders of magnitude) than cigarette smoke.
* Gravimetrically, 89-99% of the e-cigarette aerosol composition was composed of glycerol, propylene glycol, water, and nicotine, and around 3% comprised other, more minor, constituents.
* Comparable data for the Ky3R4F reference tobacco cigarette pointed to 58 –76% of cigarette smoke "tar" being composed of minor constituents.
* Levels of the targeted toxicants in the e-cigarette aerosols were significantly lower than those in cigarette smoke, with 68.5 –>99% reductions under ISO 3308 puffing conditions and 88.4 –>99% reductions under ISO 20778 (intense) conditions.
Citation
Margham J, Mcadam K, Cunningham a, et al. The Chemical Complexity of e-Cigarette aerosols Compared With the Smoke From a Tobacco Burning Cigarette. Frontiers in chemistry. 2021;9:743060. doi:10.3389/fchem.2021.743060
