Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 May:115:302-305.
doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2018.03.025. Epub 2018 Mar 20.

Nicotine emissions from electronic cigarettes: Individual and interactive effects of propylene glycol to vegetable glycerin composition and device power output

Leon Kosmider  1 , Tory R Spindle  2 , Michal Gawron  3 , Andrzej Sobczak  4 , Maciej Lukasz Goniewicz  5
Affiliations

Nicotine emissions from electronic cigarettes: Individual and interactive effects of propylene glycol to vegetable glycerin composition and device power output

Leon Kosmider et al. Food Chem Toxicol. 2018 May.

Abstract

Introduction: The power output of e-cigarettes varies considerably, as does the composition of liquids used with these products. Most e-cigarette liquids contain two primary solvents: propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG). The primary aim of this study was to examine the extent to which PG and VG composition and device power interact with each other to influence e-cigarette nicotine emissions.

Methods: Aerosols were generated using a 2nd generation e-cigarette and an automatic smoking machine. Nicotine was measured in aerosols, via gas chromatography, produced from three solutions containing pure PG, pure VG, or a mixture of both solvents (50:50) across three different power settings (4.3, 6.7, and 9.6 W).

Results: At the lowest power setting, nicotine yield increased significantly as more PG was added to the solution. However, as device power was increased, differences in nicotine yield across liquids became less pronounced. At the highest power setting (9.6 W), nicotine yields did not differ across the three liquids examined.

Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that the extent to which e-cigarette liquid PG and VG composition influences nicotine emissions is dependent on device power. Thus, device power may influence e-cigarette nicotine emissions to a greater degree relative to solvent concentrations.

Keywords: Electronic cigarettes; Nicotine; Propylene glycol; Vapor; Vegetable glycerin; Wattage.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

MLG received research funding from Pfizer and served as an advisory board member to Johnson and Johnson, manufacturers of stop smoking medications. AS accepted personal fees from the eSmoking Institute in Poznan, Poland, and non-financial support from Chic Group LTD, a manufacturer of electronic cigarettes in Poland, outside of the submitted work. AS also works in the Institute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health. LK works as an expert for the Polish National Committee for Standardization and for the European Committee for standardization of requirements and test methods for e-liquids and emissions. LK was also an employee of the Institute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health. One of the institute’s objectives is outsourcing for the industrial sector, including manufacturers of e-cigarettes. However, this has no influence on studies design. LK is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number P50DA036105 and the Center for Tobacco Products of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the views of the NIH or the FDA.Other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Nicotine yields released with 15 puffs (puffs duration: 2 s; interpuff-intervals: 17 s; puffs volume: 50 mL). Comparison between solvents types.
The bars depict the mean concentration of nicotine and whiskers represent means±0.95 confidence interval of the mean. * - statistical significance was found: between VG and VG/PG; ** - statistical significance was found: between VG and PG; *** - between VG/PG and PG. VG - glycerin solvent liquid; VG/PG - liquid contains glycerin and propylene glycol; PG- propylene glycol solvent liquid. Limit of quantitation: 0.05 μg/mL.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Baassiri M, Talih S, Salman R, Karaoghlanian N, Saleh R, El Hage R, Saliba N, Shihadeh A, 2017. Clouds and “throat hit”: Effects of liquid composition on nicotine emissions and physical characteristics of electronic cigarette aerosols. Aerosol Sci. Technol. 51 (11), 1231–1239. 10.1080/02786826.2017.1341040 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Breland A, Soule E, Lopez A, Ramôa C, El-Hellani A, Eissenberg T, 2017. Electronic cigarettes: what are they and what do they do? Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1394 (1), 5–30. 10.1111/nyas.12977 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Farsalinos KE, Romagna G, Tsiapras D, Kyrzopoulos S, Voudris V, 2013. Evaluation of Electronic Cigarette Use (Vaping) Topography and Estimation of Liquid Consumption: Implications for Research Protocol Standards Definition and for Public Health Authorities’ Regulation. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Heal. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Heal. 10 (6), 2500–2514. 10.3390/ijerph10062500 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Farsalinos KE, Yannovits N, Sarri T, Voudris V, Poulas K, 2016. Protocol proposal for, and evaluation of, consistency in nicotine delivery from the liquid to the aerosol of electronic cigarettes atomizers: regulatory implications. Addiction 111 (6), 1069–1076. 10.1111/add.13299 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Goniewicz ML, Kuma T, Gawron M, Knysak J, Kosmider L, 2013. Nicotine levels in electronic cigarettes. Nicotine Tob. Res. 15 (1), 158–166. 10.1093/ntr/nts103 - DOI - PubMed