title: A direct method for e-cigarette aerosol sample collection.
abstract: E-cigarette use is increasing in populations around the world. Recent evidence has shown that the aerosol produced by e-cigarettes can contain a variety of toxicants. Published studies characterizing toxicants in e-cigarette aerosol have relied on filters, impingers or sorbent tubes, which are methods that require diluting or extracting the sample in a solution during collection. We have developed a collection system that directly condenses e-cigarette aerosol samples for chemical and toxicological analyses. The collection system consists of several cut pipette tips connected with short pieces of tubing. The pipette tip-based collection system can be connected to a peristaltic pump, a vacuum pump, or directly to an e-cigarette user for the e-cigarette aerosol to flow through the system. The pipette tip-based system condenses the aerosol produced by the e-cigarette and collects a liquid sample that is ready for analysis without the need of intermediate extraction solutions. We tested a total of 20 e-cigarettes from 5 different brands commercially available in Maryland. The pipette tip-based collection system condensed between 0.23 and 0.53mL of post-vaped e-liquid after 150 puffs. The proposed method is highly adaptable, can be used during field work and in experimental settings, and allows collecting aerosol samples from a wide variety of e-cigarette devices, yielding a condensate of the likely exact substance that is being delivered to the lungs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States. Electronic address: polmedo1@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Olmedo
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States; Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Navas-Acien
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States; University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Prevention Research Center, 180 Grand Avenue, Suite 1200, Oakland, CA 94612, United States.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jarmul
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rule
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis*; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D066300:Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008396:Maryland; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants
keywords: Aerosol; E-cigarettes; Method; Sampling