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. 2022 Jun 30;12(1):11019.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-14236-4.

In-situ TD-GCMS measurements of oxidative products of monoterpenes at typical vaping temperatures: implications for inhalation exposure to vaping products

Jiping Zhu  1 , Jianjun Niu  2 , Dharani Das  2 , Ashley Cabecinha  3 , Hanan Abramovici  3
Affiliations

In-situ TD-GCMS measurements of oxidative products of monoterpenes at typical vaping temperatures: implications for inhalation exposure to vaping products

Jiping Zhu et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Vaping is gaining in popularity. However, there is still much that remains unknown about the potential risk and harms of vaping. Formation of oxidative products is one of such areas that are not well understood. In this study, we used an in-situ thermal desorption GC/MS method to investigate the formation of oxidative products of several monoterpenes at or below typical vaping temperatures. Among the five tested monoterpenes, the unchanged portion of the parent compound in the vapour varied from 97 to 98% for myrcene to 11-28% for terpinolene. The majority of formed oxidative products in the vapour have a molecular weight of 134 (loss of two hydrogens), 150 (insertion of one oxygen and loss of two hydrogen atoms) or 152 (insertion of one oxygen atom). Three products, likely to be p-(1-propenyl)-toluene, β-pinone and fenchol were also observed. This is the first in-situ thermal desorption GC/MS study to investigate the possible formation of oxidative products of monoterpenes, one of the major components in vaping liquids, at temperatures that are relevant to the vaping process. Although the toxicity of inhaling these oxidative products is not clear yet, allergic and irritation reactions associated with oxidized monoterpene oils are well documented. Therefore, potential adverse effects of inhaling these oxidative products during vaping could be investigated to help support human risk assessment.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Two-stage thermal desorption process for the study of in-situ oxidative reaction of monoterpenes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical structure of five monoterpenes investigated in this study.
Figure 3
Figure 3
GC/MS chromatogram of terpinolene at TDU of 100 °C and CIS of 150 °C. M: Molecular weight.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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