Passive exposure to nicotine from e-cigarettes.

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Environmental Health
• Toxicology

Background:

• Assessing passive exposure to nicotine is crucial for understanding health risks associated with smoking.
• Distinguishing between conventional cigarette and e-cigarette passive exposure requires sensitive analytical methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine nicotine levels in exhaled breath and oral fluids of active and passive smokers of both cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
• To compare nicotine exposure from passive vaping versus passive smoking of different tobacco types.
• To verify the composition of e-cigarettes.

Main Methods:

• Liquid-liquid microextraction (LLME) for sample preparation.
• Ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) for nicotine determination.
• Analysis of nicotine in exhaled breath and oral fluid samples.

Main Results:

• Exhaled breath nicotine levels were significantly lower from e-cigarettes (32 ng/puff) compared to conventional cigarettes (220 ng/puff) in experienced smokers.
• Nicotine levels in oral fluids of passive vapers were lower than those of passive smokers of rolling tobacco and classical yellow blend cigarettes.
• Nicotine concentrations in oral fluids of passive vapers ranged from 8 to 14 µg L(-1) lower than the average of 38±14 µg L(-1) for passive smokers of rolling tobacco.

Conclusions:

• The developed IMS-LLME procedure effectively quantifies passive nicotine exposure from both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes.
• Passive exposure to nicotine from e-cigarettes results in lower oral fluid concentrations compared to traditional smoking.
• Findings contribute to understanding the relative risks of passive exposure from different smoking products and aid in e-cigarette composition verification.