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TSRC, Tob. Sci. Res. Conf., 2018, 72, abstr. 086 (also presented at CORESTA 2018)

Characterization of a temperature regulated e-cigarette for potential use as a reference device

PENNINGTON A.; GILLMAN I.G.
Enthalpy Analytical, Durham, NC, USA

The development and adoption of a well characterized reference e-cigarette would be useful during the routine analysis of e-cigarette emissions. One possible class of devices that might be suitable for use as a reference e-cigarette are temperature regulated devices. Temperature regulated devices control heating of the coil system by measuring changes in coil resistance during use. Temperature control may limit the production of thermal degradation products (TDPs) and dry puffing by the user. In this study, we used 20 commercial devices fitted with a nickel coil inside a refillable tank. Devices were analyzed for total aerosol yield, and the formations of aldehydes. Devices were tested over a coil temperature range of 201°C to 316°C. A temperature of 300˚C was chosen for evaluation of device reproducibility and repeatability. Devices were found to have a reproducibility of 20-37% RSD in aerosol mass generation and 8-70% RSD for formaldehyde/gram. Devices produced 20-300, 5-100, and 2-10 ug/gram of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein respectively. Furthermore, only 50% of devices used were found to be reproducible with a RSD within 20%. Devices were found to have a repeatability of 33% RSD in aerosol mass generation and 84% RSD for formaldehyde/gram. Devices produced 30-600, 10-300, and 2-40 ug/gram of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and acrolein respectively. Transfer efficacy studies were performed at a lower temperature (231°C) with a 50:50 PG:VG 2% nicotine e-liquid, spiked with formaldehyde and acetaldehyde. Devices showed good reproducibility with RSDs of 8.9% and 9.1% on a per gram basis for formaldehyde and acetaldehyde transfer. Results from this study showed that temperature regulated devices cannot be utilized to precisely produce thermal degradation products, but can be used as an analytical reference to accurately assess the delivery of aldehydes from liquids that contain known amounts of these compounds.