Analysis of the Aerosol Generated from Tetrahydrocannabinol, Vitamin E Acetate, and Their Mixtures.

Vladimir B Mikheev,Alexander Ivanov

doi:10.3390/toxics10020088

Abstract

E-cigarette, or vaping, product use–associated lung injury (EVALI) outbreak was linked to vitamin E acetate (VEA) used as a solvent for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Several studies were conducted to assess the products of VEA (and THC/VEA mixtures) thermal degradation as a result of vaporizing/aerosolizing from a traditional type (coil—cotton wick) and ceramic type coil vape pens. The particle size distribution (PSD) of VEA aerosol and the temperature VEA and THC/VEA mixtures are heated to were also measured for a few types of traditional and ceramic vape pens. The current study assessed the PSD of the aerosol generated from THC, VEA, and a number of THC/VEA mixtures using a dab-type vape pen under two different temperature settings and two puffing flow rates. Thermal degradation of THC, VEA, and THC/VEA mixtures were also assessed, and coil temperature was measured. Results showed the dependence of the PSD upon the chemical content of the aerosolized mixture as well as upon the puffing flow rate. Minimal thermal degradation was observed. Flaws in the vape pen’s design, which most likely affected results, were detected. The suitability of VEA, THC, and THC/VEA mixtures with certain types of vape pens was discussed.

Highlights

The emergence of an e-cigarette, or vaping, product use–associated lung injury (EVALI)crisis [1] raised a number of questions, but scientists still did not obtain satisfactory answers to explain the nature of this outbreak [2]
For vitamin E acetate (VEA), the temperature measure◦ setting stayed under 250 ◦ C, but at the 430 ◦ F set point, temperatures consistently mentsF at the 350 °F setting stayed under 250 °C, but at the 430 °F set point, temperatures
Each of the novel signals detected for any aerosol sample was small in magnitude, having an internal-standard-normalized peak response that was

Summary

Introduction

The emergence of an e-cigarette, or vaping, product use–associated lung injury (EVALI)crisis [1] raised a number of questions, but scientists still did not obtain satisfactory answers to explain the nature of this outbreak [2]. A number of potential toxicants were detected such as ketene, 1-pristene, duroquinone (DQ), durohydroquinone (DQH), durohydroquinone monoacetate (DHQMA), and 2,6,10,14-tetramethyl-1-pentadecene (TMPD) [6,7,8,9,11,12], and high heating temperatures (above 500 ◦ C) were observed while vaporizing VEA containing e-liquids from commercially available vape pens [8,9]. Beyond chemical toxicity resulting from the inhalation of products of VEA pyrolysis, possible VEA impact on pulmonary injury [13]. The mechanical properties of pulmonary lung surfactants were discussed [14] Another critically important aspect of aerosol toxicity is particle size since it defines which region of the human respiratory system will be most affected by the inhaled aerosol

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Conclusion