Characterization of an Electronic Nicotine Delivery System (ENDS) Aerosol Generation Platform to Determine Exposure Risks

• Published in: Toxics (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 2; p. 99
• Main Authors: Zhang, Qian, Jeon, Jennifer, Goldsmith, Travis, Black, Marilyn, Greenwald, Roby, Wright, Christa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21.01.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Aerosols; Air pollution; Analysis; Atomizing; Chemical compounds; Coils; e-liquids; electronic cigarette; Electronic cigarettes; Electronic devices; Emission analysis; Emissions; Environmental aspects; Exposure; Health aspects; monitoring; Monitoring instruments; Nicotine; Parameters; Particle emission; Particle mass; Particle size distribution; particles; Popularity; Power supply; Stainless steel; Tobacco; Vaping; Ventilation; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds; United States; United States > US; monitoring; particles; electronic cigarette; emissions; e-liquids
• ISSN: 2305-6304; 2305-6304
• DOI: 10.3390/toxics11020099

Evaluating vaping parameters that influence electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) emission profiles and potentially hazardous exposure levels is essential to protecting human health. We developed an automated multi-channel ENDS aerosol generation system (EAGS) for characterizing size-resolved particle emissions across pod- and mod-type devices using real-time monitoring instruments, an exposure chamber, and vaping parameters including different ventilation rates, device type and age, e-liquid formulation, and atomizer setup. Results show the ENDS device type, e-liquid flavoring, and nicotine content can affect particle emissions. In general, pod-type devices have unimodal particle size distributions and higher number emissions, while mod-type devices have bimodal size distributions and higher mass emissions. For pod-type devices, later puff fractions emit lower aerosols, which is potentially associated with the change of coil resistance and power during ageing. For a mod-type device, an atomizer with a lower resistance coil and higher power generates larger particle emissions than an atomizer with a greater resistance coil and lower power. The unventilated scenario produces higher particle emission factors, except for particle mass emission from pod-type devices. The data provided herein indicate the EAGS can produce realistic and reproducible puff profiles of pod- and mod-type ENDS devices and therefore is a suitable platform for characterizing ENDS-associated exposure risks.