Comprehensive Chemical Characterization of the Aerosol Emissions of a Vaping Product Based on a New Technology

Abstract

Around 10 million people in the United States and 3 million people in the United Kingdom are estimated to use vaping category products. There are some estimates that there will be 75−80 million vapers worldwide by 2020. Most of these products are based on coil-and-wick technology. Because the heating and aerosol formation are separate processes, the system can lead to dry-wicking and elevated emission of carbonyls if designed and/or manufactured poorly. Low-nicotine and low-power coiland-wick devices have also been linked to increased exposure to formaldehyde due to compensatory behavior by users. We characterized the emissions of a vaping product which uses a fabric-free stainless-steel mesh distiller plate technology that heats and aerosolizes the e-liquid in a single process. The plate has a microporous structure for capillary-induced liquid transformation (wicking) and aerosolization that is optimized to avoid fluid starvation and overheating and improved control. Compared with emissions previously reported for a coil-and-wick nicotine vaping product (e-cigarette), most classes of harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs) from this vaping product were below the level of detection or quantification. For those that were quantifiable, this vaping product generally had lower levels of emissions than the e-cigarette, including carbonyls. Formaldehyde and methyl glyoxal levels did not differ significantly between vaping products. In this system, the single mode of liquid transfer and vapor formation permits high aerosol mass delivery but further reduces emissions of HPHCs that may be present in conventional ecigarette aerosol, by lessening the risk of thermal breakdown of the aerosol-generating solvent mixture.

The in vitro assessment of a novel vaping technology

“…The IS1.0(TT) e-cig uses a novel distiller plate technology to generate and deliver an e-cig aerosol. Analytical assessment of the respective aerosol emissions has shown that the IS1.0(TT) e-cig aerosol contains significantly reduced levels of known toxicants, and in many cases the toxicant levels were below the levels of detection for the analytical test methods [ 17 ]. The same study also showed that IS1.0(TT) emissions contained lower levels of toxicants than those from a comparator e-cig based on coil-and-wick technology.…”

“…That the aerosol from the IS1.0(TT) e-cig had levels of known toxicants that were either substantially reduced or absent is directly reflected in the corresponding lack of biological activity that we observed. Indeed, the distiller plate technology employed by this device delivers even lower levels of toxicants than a conventional coil and wick-based e-cig [ 17 ]. IS1.0(TT) was not compared with a coil and wick-based e-cig directly in the current toxicological evaluation study, and so a direct comparison of in vitro data with the aerosol emission data is not possible in this instance.…”

“…This in turn could expose the users to higher levels of toxicants [ 15 , 16 ]. We have developed a vaping product which utilises distiller technology, known as ‘PureTech™’, to produce an inhalable aerosol with a large mass per puff [ 17 ]. A stainless-steel mesh provides a single mode of liquid transfer and vapour formation, in contrast to the traditional e-cig which uses a separate wick and coil for aerosol formation and fluid transfer, respectively.…”

“…This innovation substantially reduces the risk of dry-wicking and overheating, which is associated with the production of formaldehyde and other toxic carbonyls in some traditional e-cigs [ 18 ]. Recent studies on a new vapour device, (IS1.0(TT)), have shown significant reductions in levels of key constituents identified by regulatory bodies such as the WHO Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg) and the US FDA [ 17 ]. A number of these toxicants ( e.g.…”

Cancer potencies and margin of exposure used for comparative risk assessment of heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes aerosols with cigarette smoke

“…1). For the ECs, considering the yields published (Margham et al 2016;Nicol et al, 2020) for the 21 selected compounds, the calculated mean lifetime cancer risk was respectively 2.42•10 -4 and 3.95•10 -4 . As these values are representative of two products only, no statistical analysis was performed, and they were plotted as single points on Fig.…”