Department of Applied Health Science, School of Public Health, Indiana University Bloomington, 1025 E. 7th St., SPH 116, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7000 Fannin St., Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Aug 26;19(17):10633. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191710633.
The use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), including disposable e-cigarettes, has been prevalent. Existing chemical analyses of ENDS focused on e-liquids rather than aerosols and failed to consider particle sizes and aerosol respiratory deposition fractions, which are key factors for inhalation doses. This study investigated the organic chemical and metal constituents in size-segregated ENDS aerosol and assessed the deposited doses and health risks of these substances. Aerosol chemical analyses were conducted on two popular disposable ENDS products: Puff Bar (Grape) and Air Bar (Watermelon Ice). An ENDS aerosol was generated and delivered into a Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor to collect size-segregated aerosol samples, in which organic chemicals and metals were analyzed. Daily and lifetime doses for each chemical were estimated. Cancer and non-cancer risk assessments were conducted based on the deposited doses. We found that e-cigarette aerosol contains certain harmful organic chemicals and metals documented to result in respiratory problems. Estimated respiratory cancer risks corresponding to chromium from both ENDS products and nickel from Air Bar (Watermelon Ice) were substantially above the conventionally acceptable risk. The method, findings, and implications can contribute to the extant literature of ENDS toxicity studies as well as inform tobacco regulation and future large-scale studies.
电子尼古丁传送系统（ENDS）的使用，包括一次性电子烟，已经非常普遍。现有的 ENDS 化学分析主要集中在电子烟液上，而没有考虑气溶胶和粒子大小以及气溶胶呼吸沉积分数，这些是吸入剂量的关键因素。本研究调查了大小分离的 ENDS 气溶胶中的有机化学物质和金属成分，并评估了这些物质的沉积剂量和健康风险。对两种流行的一次性 ENDS 产品：Puff Bar（葡萄味）和 Air Bar（西瓜冰味）进行了气溶胶化学分析。将 ENDS 气溶胶生成并输送到微孔均匀沉积撞击器中，以收集大小分离的气溶胶样本，其中分析了有机化学物质和金属。估计了每种化学物质的每日和终生剂量。根据沉积剂量进行了癌症和非癌症风险评估。我们发现电子烟气溶胶中含有某些已知会导致呼吸道问题的有害有机化学物质和金属。来自两种 ENDS 产品的铬和来自 Air Bar（西瓜冰味）的镍的估计呼吸道癌症风险大大高于传统上可接受的风险。该方法、发现和意义可以为 ENDS 毒性研究的现有文献做出贡献，并为烟草监管和未来的大规模研究提供信息。
