The transfer characteristics of heavy metals in electronic cigarette liquid

Chae Jin Na, Sang Hee Jo, Ki Hyun Kim, Jong Ryeul Sohn, Youn Suk Son

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    21 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    In this research, the concentrations of six heavy metals (Zn, Pb, Ni, Fe, Cd, and Cr)in electronic cigarette (EC)solutions were determined to assess their association with EC use patterns. To this end, their contents were analyzed under three conditions: (1)ECL I: EC liquid was directly taken from EC liquid bottles as purchased from retail, (2)ECL II: EC liquid simply stored in the EC clearomizer for a certain period was collected without any puffing, and (3)ECL III: EC liquid remaining in the EC clearomizer after puffing. Each of all three types of electronic cigarette liquid (ECL)samples selected in this study was analyzed after being stored for up to seven days (at elapsed intervals of 1, 3, and 7 days). Zn and Pb were detected in all types of samples while Cd was all below method detection limit (MDL). Fe, Ni, and Cr were generally below MDL in ECL I, while it was not the case for ECL II and III samples. Especially, Zn, Pb, and Ni levels increased significantly with the use of EC. If the consumption of EC causes alterations in elemental content, such changes can be assessed in terms of ratio values such as “after/before use”. The maximum ratio values for each target, when assessed using ECL III samples, were seen in the following order: 463 (Zn)> 315 (Ni)> 131 (Fe)> 47.9 (Cr)> 36.0 (Pb). As such, EC use is clearly demonstrated as the transfer route of heavy metals.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)152-159
    Number of pages8
    JournalEnvironmental Research
    Volume174
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2019 Jul

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This research was supported by a grant (14182MFDS977)from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2018. This research was also partially supported by the R&D Center for Green Patrol Technologies through R&D for Global Top Environmental Technologies funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE), Republic of Korea. J Shon also acknowledges support made by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE)(2015001950001)as part of “The Chemical Accident Prevention Technology Development Project”. Y Son acknowledges support made by a Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2018R1D1A3B07040617).

    Funding Information:
    This research was supported by a grant ( 14182MFDS977 ) from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in 2018. This research was also partially supported by the R&D Center for Green Patrol Technologies through R&D for Global Top Environmental Technologies funded by the Ministry of Environment (MOE), Republic of Korea. J Shon also acknowledges support made by the Korea Ministry of Environment (MOE) ( 2015001950001 ) as part of “The Chemical Accident Prevention Technology Development Project”. Y Son acknowledges support made by a Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education ( NRF-2018R1D1A3B07040617 ).

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

    Keywords

    • Coil
    • E-liquid
    • Electronic cigarette
    • Heavy metal
    • Transfer

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biochemistry
    • General Environmental Science

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