AAAR 35th Annual Conference October 17 - October 21, 2016 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
Are Sweet Flavored Electronic Cigarettes a Source of Furans?
Sarah Soussy, Ahmad El Hellani, Rima Baalbaki, Rola Salman, Alan Shihadeh, NAJAT A. SALIBA, American University of Beirut
Abstract Number: 339 Working Group: Electronic Cigarettes - Particle Generation
Abstract The wide availability of sweet flavors has been hypothesized as a factor in the popularity of electronic cigarette (ECIG), especially among youth. Saccharides, which are commonly used to impart a sweet flavor to ECIG liquids, thermally degrade to produce toxic compounds, like aldehydes and furans. This study investigates the formation of furanic compounds in aerosols produced when a propylene glycol/vegetable glycerol (PG/VG) solution of varying concentrations of sweeteners is vaped with different ECIG power and puff duration parameters. Liquids of varying concentrations are prepared and aerosols are generated using an ECIG operating at 4.3 and 10.8 W power and 4 and 8 s puff duration. Aerosols are trapped on filter pads which are extracted and quantified using a novel SPE technique and GC-MS method. This allows the assessment of 5-Hydroxymethyl Furfural (HMF) and Furfural (FA) without interference from PG, VG and other impurities. Well-resolved peaks of HMF and FA are detected. Both are quantified in the aerosols of sweet flavored e-liquids under all vaping conditions. A correlation of furan emission with electric power, sweetener concentration and puff duration is evaluated. It is also reported that under certain conditions, the per-puff yield of HMF and FA in ECIG emissions is comparable to values reported for combustible cigarettes.