Selected Harmful and Potentially Harmful Constituents Levels in Commercial e-Cigarettes.

Maxim Belushkin,Cyril Jeannet,Marco Esposito,Guy Jaccard,Alexandra Korneliou,Donatien Tafin Djoko,Massimo Lazzerini

doi:10.1021/acs.chemrestox.9b00470

Maxim Belushkin, Cyril Jeannet + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.9b00470

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Abstract

A broad range of commercially available electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) systems were tested for levels of emissions of harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHC), with a particular focus on the carbonyls: acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde. The tobacco-specific nitrosamines N'-nitrosonornicotine and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-bipyridyl)-1-butanone; the elements arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and nickel; benzene; 1,3-butadiene; and benzo(a)pyrene were also quantified. The results show that except for the levels of carbonyls, all types of e-cigarettes performed in a similar manner, and emission levels for HPHCs were generally not quantifiable. However, levels of carbonyls, especially formaldehyde, were highly variable. Overall, the lowest levels of formaldehyde were observed in cartridge systems, which generally achieved substantial reductions in yields in comparison with cigarette smoke. Formaldehyde levels in open tank systems were variable; however, the median formaldehyde levels across different brands were substantially lower than the formaldehyde levels in cigarette smoke. The results for variable-power devices operated at the highest voltage confirmed existing literature data regardless of orientation and differences in puffing regimes. Furthermore, our results show that many products deliver consistent HPHC yields over a broad range of testing conditions (with minimal variability from one device to another, under a range of puffing conditions). However, some products exhibit high variability in emissions of HPHCs. The use of air blanks is further highlighted to assess nonproduct-related contributions to HPHC levels to avoid misrepresentation of the data. Overall, our results highlight that some but not all electronic cigarettes deliver low levels of carbonyls consistently across the full e-liquid depletion cycle under different test conditions. The need for further research and standardization work on assessment of variable-voltage electronic cigarettes is emphasized.

Highlights

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have been proposed as a safer alternative to cigarette smoking,[1−4] the current state of understanding of the precise health benefits at the population level in comparison with continued cigarette smoking remains a subject of debate.[5]
We report on the product performance of a range of e-cigarettes, under standardized conditions to be able to compare them, on the basis of the analysis of compounds (carbonyl compounds, tobaccospecific nitrosamines (TSNA), elements, volatiles, benzo(a)pyrene [BaP]) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for cigarette emissions[61] and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) for ecigarette aerosols.[62]
To allow a direct comparison of products analyzed in the frame of our study, we measured the constituents in blocks of 50 puffs until mass loss was below 12.5 mg per collection, as a marker of the exhaustion of the liquid in the ecigarette product

Summary

Introduction

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) have been proposed as a safer alternative to cigarette smoking,[1−4] the current state of understanding of the precise health benefits at the population level in comparison with continued cigarette smoking remains a subject of debate.[5]. Concerns have been raised about the levels of harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHC) in ecigarette aerosols, carbonyl compounds, such as acetaldehyde, acrolein, and formaldehyde, resulting from the heating of the liquid in the device;[16−18] metals released by some device components;[19−25] impurities already present in the e-liquids and transferring into the aerosol, such as tobaccospecific nitrosamines (TSNA); aerosol former impurities; and flavor impurities.[26−32] The levels of the HPHCs in e-cigarette aerosols have generally been reported to be well below the levels observed in mainstream cigarette smoke in normal use conditions.[33−36] This has been confirmed in clinical trials, where the levels of biomarkers of exposure to a number of toxicants, including acrolein, cadmium, and lead, were significantly lower in participants who switched to e-cigarettes than in control subjects who continued smoking cigarettes.[37−40].

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