Exhaled Ecig Aerosol Particles
Dainius Martuzevicius spoke to the Global Forum on Nicotine about "Characterisation of the dynamic properties of exhaled aerosol particles following use of electronic and conventional cigarettes". Martuzevicius comes from the Faculty of Chemical Technology at the Kaunus University of Technology in Lithuania.
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by Dave Cross
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The Faculty of Chemical Technology lays claim to being “the most significant institution in the country, preparing highly qualified specialists of chemical industry and performing relevant scientific research of good quality in the areas of chemistry, chemical engineering, food technology, biotechnology and environmental engineering.”
Martuzevicius spoke about a small-scale study he carried out in conjunction with the Amsterdam-based electronic cigarette company Fontem Ventures. It is a study that has garnered a reasonable amount of press coverage.
Dainius said: “Growing discussion amongst public health organizations and the scientific community as to whether the ‘particles’ exhaled following use of e-cigarettes has potential implications for indoor air quality and bystanders. We aimed to investigate the spatial and temporal patterns of the variations of exhaled aerosol particles following use of an e-cigarette and a conventional cigarette in a room under controlled environmental conditions.”
“To provide comparative information for this study, we split participants into three groups. Importantly, we requested the first group abstain from tobacco and vaping entirely to give us a benchmark for the maximum achievable exposure reductions. The second group used e-cigarettes exclusively and the third used both e-cigarettes and their usual brand of tobacco cigarettes,” explained Dr. Grant O’Connell, Vice President of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs. “Encouragingly, in eight out of the nine urinary biomarkers we studied, the reductions in levels of HPHCs following exclusive use of e-cigarettes were almost indistinguishable from reductions in smokers who stopped altogether during the same time. The obvious exception was nicotine.”
Martuzevicius pointed out that fears over nanoparticles in the United States are incredible overblown. The “particles from e-cigarettes are mainly liquid droplets constituted of water,” he explained. “These particles evaporate very fast and disappear 10-15 seconds after the puff, transferring to the gaseous phase.”
O’Connell puts the findings into context: “The findings support earlier research conducted by Fontem Ventures which showed that e-cigarette vapour is over 95% less toxic than smoke from a cigarette, contains over 95% less HPHCs, and does not negatively impact indoor air quality, unlike conventional cigarette smoke.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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