Abstract
Introduction: ECIGs are currently under scrutiny concerning their safety, particularly in reference to the impact ECIG liquids (E-liquids) have on human health. One concern is that aerosolized E-liquids contain trace metals that could become trapped in respiratory tissues and induce pathology.Methods: To mimic this trapping, peristaltic pumps were used to generate and transport aerosol onto mixed cellulose ester (MCE) membranes where aluminum (Al), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) were subsequently captured and quantified. The presence of trace metals on unexposed MCE membranes and on MCE membranes exposed to mainstream smoke served as control and comparison, respectively. The presence of these metals was also determined from the E-liquid before aerosolization and untouched by the ECIG device. All metals were quantified using ICP-MS. The ECIG core assembly was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy with elemental analysis capability.Results: The contents (μg) of Al, As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn on control MCE membranes were 1.2 ± 0.2, 0.050 ± 0.002, 0.047 ± 0.003, 0.05 ± 0.01, 0.001 ± 0.001, 0.16 ± 0.04, 0.005 ± 0.003, 0.014 ± 0.006, and 0.09 ± 0.02, respectively. The contents of all trace metals on MCE membranes exposed to aerosol were similar to controls, except Ni which was significantly (p < 0.01) higher (0.024 ± 0.004 μg). In contrast, contents of Al, As, Fe, Mn, and Zn on MCE membranes exposed to smoke were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than controls. The contents of Al, As, Cu, Fe, and Mn on smoke-exposed MCE membranes were also significantly higher (p < 0.05) than their content on aerosol-exposed membranes. The contents per cigarette equivalent of metals in E-liquid before aerosolization were negligible compared to amounts of aerosolized E-liquid, except for Fe (0.002 μg before and 0.001 μg after). Elemental analysis of the core assembly reveals the presence of several of these trace metals, especially Al, Fe, Ni, and Zn.Conclusions: In general, from the single ECIG-device/E-liquid combination used, the amount of trace metals from ECIG-generated aerosol are lower than in traditional mainstream smoke, Only Ni in the ECIG-generated aerosol was higher than control. The most probable source of Ni in this aerosol is the core assembly.
Highlights
electronic cigarettes (ECIG) are currently under scrutiny concerning their safety, in reference to the impact ECIG liquids (E-liquids) have on human health
It is worth noting that while the current evidence regarding ECIG safety is sparse, there are still no long term studies reporting severe health effects among ECIG users (Farsalinos et al, 2014; Hartmann-Boyce et al, 2016). Regardless of these concerns, there is still much that is not known about the effects and risks of ECIG use, when it comes to inhalation of ECIG-generated aerosol
The MCE membrane disks (13 mm diameter, 5 μm pore size,
Summary
ECIGs are currently under scrutiny concerning their safety, in reference to the impact ECIG liquids (E-liquids) have on human health. There is much concern about the detrimental effects of ECIG-generated aerosol as perceived by the public, especially in the wake of two recent and highly publicized articles reporting hidden formaldehyde in ECIGgenerated aerosols (Jensen et al, 2015) and DNA strand breaks and cell death induced by ECIG vapor (Yu et al, 2016) These articles claim that vaping is as dangerous as or more dangerous than traditional smoking without any substantial evidence to support their claims (Bates and Farsalinos, 2015; Holliday et al, 2016). It is worth noting that while the current evidence regarding ECIG safety is sparse, there are still no long term studies reporting severe health effects among ECIG users (Farsalinos et al, 2014; Hartmann-Boyce et al, 2016) Regardless of these concerns, there is still much that is not known about the effects and risks of ECIG use, when it comes to inhalation of ECIG-generated aerosol
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