Chemical Composition of Aerosols of an Electronic Cigarette

• Published in: Aerosol and Air Quality Research 2021-07, Vol.21 (7), p.1-8
• Main Authors: Cheng, Wen-Hsi, Chang, Chia-Yu, Chen, Yi-Ya, Su, Hui-Wen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerosols; Behavior; Chemical composition; Chemical compounds; Cigarette smoking; Divinylbenzene; E-cigarette liquid; Electronic cigarette; Electronic cigarettes; Emissions; Exposure; Gas chromatography; Laboratories; Mass spectroscopy; Needle trap samplers; Nicotine; Original Research; Performance evaluation; Propylene; Propylene glycol; Smoking; Stainless steel; Stainless steels; Topography; Triacetin
• ISSN: 1680-8584; 2071-1409
• DOI: 10.4209/aaqr.200672

A needle trap sampler (NTS) packed with 60-80-mesh divinylbenzene (DVB) adsorbent inside a 22-gauge stainless steel needle was used as a micro sampling device to extract chemical compounds in electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) aerosol. The samples were then analyzed using gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectroscopy (MS) to determine the constituents. Based on the experimental results, e-cigarette smokers are exposed to high concentrations of nicotine (146 ± 51 mg m^(-3)) during long sessions. If the e-cigarette liquid leaks though the filter of the cartridge, the user is exposed to even greater quantities (914 mg m^(-3)). However, the secondhand aerosol contains less than 1 mg m^(-3) of nicotine on average (with 0.43-1.74 mg m^(-3) being the approximate full range). In addition to nicotine, the airborne emissions from e-cigarettes mainly consist of vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, and triacetin.