Abstract
Recent reports have suggested that (1) formaldehyde levels (measured as a hydrazone derivative using the DNPH derivatization method) in Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) products were underreported because formaldehyde may react with propylene glycol (PG) and glycerin (Gly) in the aerosol to form hemiacetals; (2) the equilibrium would shift from the hemiacetals to the acetals in the acidic DNPH trapping solution. In both cases, neither the hemiacetal nor the acetal would react with DNPH to form the target formaldehyde hydrazone, due to the lack of the carbonyl functional group, thus underreporting formaldehyde. These reports were studied in our laboratory. Our results showed that the aerosol generated from formaldehyde-fortified e-liquids provided a near-quantitative recovery of formaldehyde in the aerosol, suggesting that if any hemiacetal was formed in the aerosol, it would readily hydrolyze to free formaldehyde and, consequently, form formaldehyde hydrazone in the acidic DNPH trapping solution. We demonstrated that custom-synthesized Gly and PG hemiacetal adducts added to the DNPH trapping solution would readily hydrolyze to form the formaldehyde hydrazone. We demonstrated that acetals of PG and Gly present in e-liquid are almost completely transferred to the aerosol during aerosolization. The study results demonstrate that the DNPH derivatization method allows for an accurate measurement of formaldehyde in vapor products.
Highlights
Formaldehyde (FA) is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen in humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) [1]
The goal of this study was to provide an objective assessment of the DNPH method performance with respect to an formaldehyde quantificationof in the e-cigarette
The goal of this study was to provide objective assessment method Our findings are in contradiction with a publication by the Jensen group (Jensen al., 2015), performance with respect to formaldehyde quantification in e-cigarette emissions.et Our which suggested that formaldehyde levels in Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) products were underreported because findings are in contradiction with a publication by the Jensen group (Jensen et al, 2015), formaldehyde may react with e-liquid excipients (PG and Gly) in the aerosol to form which suggested that formaldehyde levels in cyclic underreported behemiacetals, which, in turn, form acetals in the acidic trapping solution
Summary
Formaldehyde (FA) is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen in humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) [1]. Formaldehyde is a common indoor air pollutant due to its ubiquitous use in the production of various industrial products [2]. One source of human exposure to formaldehyde is its release from household products made using formaldehyde or containing formaldehyde-releaser compounds that are placed in poorly ventilated areas [3,4]. Cigarette smoke is reported as another common source of exposure to formaldehyde, which is formed as a byproduct of the combustion process of tobacco [3]. Regulations for reporting formaldehyde yields in cigarette smoke are enacted by different regulatory authorities [5,6].
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