Characterisation of a Vitrocell® VC 10 in vitrosmoke exposure system using dose tools and biological analysis

David Thorne,Annette Dalrymple,Deborah Dillon,Ken Scott,Jason Adamson,Joanne Kilford,Rebecca Payne,Clive Meredith

doi:10.1186/1752-153x-7-146

David Thorne, Annette Dalrymple + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-153x-7-146

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Abstract

BackgroundThe development of whole smoke exposure systems have been driven by the fact that traditional smoke exposure techniques are based on the particulate phase of tobacco smoke and not the complete smoke aerosol. To overcome these challenges in this study, we used a Vitrocell® VC 10 whole smoke exposure system. For characterisation purposes, we determined smoke deposition in relationship to airflow (L/min), regional smoke deposition within the linear exposure module, vapour phase dilution using a known smoke marker (carbon monoxide) and finally assessed biological responses using two independent biological systems, the Ames and Neutral Red uptake (NRU) assay.ResultsSmoke dilution correlates with particulate deposition (R2 = 0.97) and CO concentration (R2 = 0.98). Regional deposition analysis within the linear exposure chamber showed no statistical difference in deposited mass across the chamber at any airflows tested. Biological analysis showed consistent responses and positive correlations with deposited mass for both the Ames (R2 = 0.76) and NRU (R2 = 0.84) assays.ConclusionsWe conclude that in our study, under the experimental conditions tested, the VC 10 can produce stable tobacco smoke dilutions, as demonstrated by particulate deposition, measured vapour phase smoke marker delivery and biological responses from two independent in vitro test systems.

Highlights

The development of whole smoke exposure systems have been driven by the fact that traditional smoke exposure techniques are based on the particulate phase of tobacco smoke and not the complete smoke aerosol
Measurement of deposited mass Four quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) were installed into a Vitrocell® 6/4 CF Stainless Steel module and were used to initially assess particulate deposition at diluting airflows of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 & 4.0 L/ min across all four positions within the exposure module
In addition to assessing total deposited mass across the dilution airflow range, a four QCM approach enabled the assessment of particulate deposition across the linear exposure module at all airflows tested (0.5–4.0 L/min)

Summary

Introduction

The development of whole smoke exposure systems have been driven by the fact that traditional smoke exposure techniques are based on the particulate phase of tobacco smoke and not the complete smoke aerosol. Over the last decade a great deal of focus has been placed on the development of tobacco smoke or ‘whole smoke’ related exposure systems [9,10,11,12] This is partly because traditional exposure techniques tend to focus on the particulate phase of cigarette smoke [13,14] and not the complete aerosol. No exposure system commercially available or otherwise has been completely characterised or validated and each system has advantages and disadvantages over the [25] Irrespective of origin, these systems generally have in common two main components: 1, a smoking machine, which generates, dilutes and delivers cigarette smoke; 2, an exposure chamber which houses the associated biological system often at the air-liquid interface (ALI). Inserts containing cells or a quartz crystal microbalance are exposed at the ALI or air-agar-interface (AAI) to diluted smoke from separate sample ports under the dilution system (Figure 1)

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