Guo Xinyang, Chan Ya-Chun, Gautam Tania, Zhao Ran
Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G2, Canada.
Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2023 Oct 18;25(10):1657-1669. doi: 10.1039/d3em00214d.
The use of glycols is seen in various industries and occupations. In the past few decades, the health implications of inhalable glycols have gained public attention. Inhalable glycols may cause adverse health effects, especially for workers in occupations receiving frequent exposure and consumers of glycol-based daily products. Our previous work highlighted the rapid accumulation of formaldehyde and glycolaldehyde in fog juice, thus proposing the occurrence of glycol autoxidation. However, the fundamentals of glycol autoxidation remained unclear and unexplored. Our goal is to investigate the autoxidation of common glycols during indoor storage. Carbonyls were quantified using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and peroxides from autoxidation were monitored iodometry and UV-Vis spectrometry. The impact of certain factors such as the water mixing ratio and antioxidants (vitamin C) was also investigated. Formation of aldehydes in many glycols was weekly monitored, such as e-cigarette juice and triethylene glycol (TEG). Occurrence of autoxidation was confirmed by the increase in the total peroxide concentration. Additionally, we highlighted the dependence of the carbonyl formation rate on the TEG-water mixing ratio, demonstrating the complex role of water in glycol autoxidation. We have also tested the effectiveness of vitamin C and made suggestions for minimizing the formation of toxic carbonyls in consumer products.
二醇类物质在各种行业和职业中都有应用。在过去几十年里，可吸入二醇类物质对健康的影响已引起公众关注。可吸入二醇类物质可能会对健康产生不利影响，尤其是对于那些经常接触的职业工人以及二醇类日用产品的消费者。我们之前的研究强调了雾汁中甲醛和乙醇醛的快速积累，从而提出了二醇自氧化的发生。然而，二醇自氧化的基本原理仍不清楚且未被探索。我们的目标是研究常见二醇类物质在室内储存期间的自氧化情况。使用液相色谱 - 质谱联用仪（LC - MS）对羰基化合物进行定量分析，并用碘量法和紫外 - 可见光谱法监测自氧化产生的过氧化物。还研究了某些因素的影响，如水混合比例和抗氧化剂（维生素C）。每周监测许多二醇类物质中醛类的形成情况，如电子烟液和三甘醇（TEG）。通过总过氧化物浓度的增加证实了自氧化的发生。此外，我们强调了羰基形成速率对TEG - 水混合比例的依赖性，证明了水在二醇自氧化中所起的复杂作用。我们还测试了维生素C的有效性，并就减少消费品中有毒羰基化合物的形成提出了建议。
