Skin contamination as pathway for nicotine intoxication in vapers

Abstract

Growing warnings on health effects related to electronic cigarettes have met inconclusive findings at present. This study analyzed the in vitro percutaneous absorption of nicotine resulting by skin contamination with two e-liquids (refill 1 and 2) containing nicotine at 1.8%. Donor chambers of 6 Franz cells for each refill liquid were filled with 1mL of nicotine e-liquid for 24h; at selected intervals, 1.5mL of the receptor solutions were collected for nicotine concentration analysis by mean gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (LOD: 0.01μg/mL). The experiment was repeated removing the nicotine donor solution after 10min from the application and rinsing the skin surface three times with 3.0mL of milliQ water. A total of 12 cells with 24h exposure and 12 cells washed were studied. The mean concentration of nicotine in the receiving phase at the end of the experiment was 54.9±29.5 and 30.2±18.4μg/cm for refill 1 and 2 respectively and significantly lower in washed cells (4.7±2.4 and 3.5±1.3μg/cm). The skin absorption of nicotine can lead to minor health illness in vapers, while caution must be paid to dermal contamination by e liquids in children. The skin cleaning significantly reduced the transdermal absorption kinetic and intradermal deposition of nicotine.

Identification and quantification of electronic cigarette exhaled aerosol residue chemicals in field sites

“…Nicotine was the dominant chemical in our field site ECEAR samples. This is of concern because nicotine is water and lipid soluble, and readily permeates into skin (Maina et al, 2017;, where it can accumulate and be released into the blood after exposure (Bekö et al, 2017). Nicotine can cause dermatitis, irritation, and skin sensitization in humans (Berlin et al, 2014;Berner et al, 1990;Bircher et al, 1991;Gourlay et al, 1999;Greenland et al, 1998).…”

Nicotine Affects Multiple Biological Processes in EpiDermTM Organotypic Tissues and Keratinocyte Monolayers

“…EC users often come into contact with nicotine when handling products, when fluids spill, or when touching surfaces contaminated with EC fluids or residue [20][21][22][23]. In vitro studies have demonstrated transmembrane absorbance of nicotine from e-liquids [24], although its effects have not been characterized. Nicotine exposure from e-liquid spills have been reported in vape shops [20], and significant amounts of nicotine (4.571 g of nicotine/168.75 cm 2 fabric) accumulated in a vape shop during a month of monitoring [23].…”