Background and Aims The popularity of electronic cigarette devices is growing worldwide. The health impact of e-cigarette use, however, remains unclear. E-cigarettes are marketed as a safer alternative to cigarettes. The aim of this research was the characterization and quantification of toxic metal concentrations in five, nationally popular brands of cig-a-like e-cigarettes. Methods We analyzed the cartomizer liquid in 10 cartomizer refills for each of five brands by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results All of the tested metals (cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese and nickel) were found in the e-liquids analyzed. Across all analyzed brands, mean (SD) concentrations ranged from 3.20 (0.454) to 1960 (1540) μg/L for lead, 53.9 (6.95) to 2110 (5220) μg/L for chromium and 115 (49.4) to 22600 (24400) μg/L for nickel. Manganese concentrations ranged from 28.7 (9.79) to 6919 (12200) μg/L. We found marked variability in nickel and chromium concentration within and between brands, which may come from nichrome heating elements. Conclusion Additional research is needed to evaluate whether e-cigarettes represent a relevant exposure pathway for toxic metals in users.

E-cigarette use is increasing in populations around the world. Recent evidence has shown that the aerosol produced by e-cigarettes can contain a variety of toxicants. Published studies characterizing toxicants in e-cigarette aerosol have relied on filters, impingers or sorbent tubes, which are methods that require diluting or extracting the sample in a solution during collection. We have developed a collection system that directly condenses e-cigarette aerosol samples for chemical and toxicological analyses. The collection system consists of several cut pipette tips connected with short pieces of tubing. The pipette tip-based collection system can be connected to a peristaltic pump, a vacuum pump, or directly to an e-cigarette user for the e-cigarette aerosol to flow through the system. The pipette tip-based system condenses the aerosol produced by the e-cigarette and collects a liquid sample that is ready for analysis without the need of intermediate extraction solutions. We tested a total of 20 e-cigarettes from 5 different brands commercially available in Maryland. The pipette tip-based collection system condensed between 0.23 and 0.53 mL of post-vaped e-liquid after 150 puffs. The proposed method is highly adaptable, can be used during field work and in experimental settings, and allows collecting aerosol samples from a wide variety of e-cigarette devices, yielding a condensate of the likely exact substance that is being delivered to the lungs.

Human voice pitch is highly sexually dimorphic and eminently quantifiable, making it an ideal phenotype for studying the influence of sexual selection. In both traditional and industrial populations, lower pitch in men predicts mating success, reproductive success, and social status and shapes social perceptions, especially those related to physical formidability. Due to practical and ethical constraints however, scant evidence tests the central question of whether male voice pitch and other acoustic measures indicate actual fighting ability in humans. To address this, we examined pitch, pitch variability, and formant position of 475 mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters from an elite fighting league, with each fighter’s acoustic measures assessed from multiple voice recordings extracted from audio or video interviews available online (YouTube, Google Video, podcasts), totaling 1312 voice recording samples. In four regression models each predicting a separate measure of fighting ability (win percentages, number of fights, Elo ratings, and retirement status), no acoustic measure significantly predicted fighting ability above and beyond covariates. However, after fight statistics, fight history, height, weight, and age were used to extract underlying dimensions of fighting ability via factor analysis, pitch and formant position negatively predicted “Fighting Experience” and “Size” factor scores in a multivariate regression model, explaining 3–8% of the variance. Our findings suggest that lower male pitch and formants may be valid cues of some components of fighting ability in men.

Research suggests that Black youth are less likely to use e-cigarettes than their white counterparts, yet little is known as to why. We examined perceptions of e-cigarettes among Black young adults (ages 18–25) to explore the meanings these youth ascribe to e-cigarettes and the role that identity plays in how these devices are viewed. Analysis of in-depth interviews with 36 Black smokers and non-smokers in the San Francisco Bay Area suggests that Black youth perceive e-cigarettes as serving distinct, yet overlapping roles: a utilitarian function, in that they are recognized as legitimate smoking cessation tools, and a social function, insofar as they serve to mark social identity, specifically a social identity from which our participants disassociated. Participants described e-cigarette users in highly racialized and classed terms and generally expressed disinterest in using e-cigarettes, due in part perhaps to the fact that use of these devices would signal alignment with a middle class, hipster identity. This analysis is discussed within a highly charged political and public health debate about the benefits and harms associated with e-cigarette use.