AAAR 37th Annual Conference October 14 - October 18, 2019 Oregon Convention Center Portland, Oregon, USA
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Volatilization and Partitioning of Residual Electronic Cigarette Vapor to Aerosols
HENRY COLBY, Erin Katz, Anita Avery, Peter DeCarlo, Drexel University
Abstract Number: 571 Working Group: The Air We Breathe: Indoor Aerosol Sources and Chemistry
Abstract With the growing use of electronic cigarettes (E-cigs) it is necessary to understand their contribution to indoor air quality and environmental particle composition. Smoke from tobacco that deposits onto surfaces has been termed third hand smoke (THS). Like cigarette smoke, vapor from E-cigs can also collect on indoor surfaces and degrade indoor environmental quality. Chemicals in these residues such as nicotine can evaporate over time and partition to indoor aerosols which provides an additional route of exposure via inhalation. The chemicals in these residues may also be oxidized to form toxic byproducts. Laboratory experiments utilizing two different types of E-cigs were performed by introducing vapor into glass and stainless-steel chambers and allowing for particle deposition on the chamber walls. Remaining aerosols were evacuated so only the residue of the e-cig vapor remained. Ammonium sulfate aerosols introduced into the chambers and the composition of the aerosol after passing through the chamber was monitored using a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-AMS). 10 experiments over 7 days were performed with the glass chamber using a variety of aerosol introduction patterns. For measurements using the stainless-steel chamber, 3 experiments over 5 days were performed to investigate the change in residue composition and volitization by monitoring the aerosol composition. These experiments provided information on how residual vapor can contribute nicotine, propylene glycol, and vegetable glycerin to indoor aerosols from evaporation and partitioning behavior. The results of these experiments will be presented showing that while residue from E-cigs can contribute chemically to indoor aerosols, the relatively simple matrix of the vapor is less chemically active then residual cigarette smoke which has been studied previously.