Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-2023

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M. Eng.

Department

Chemical Engineering

Committee Chair

Fu, Xiao-An

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Nantz, Michael

Committee Member

Nantz, Michael

Committee Member

Sathitsuksanoh, Noppadon

Author's Keywords

aldehydes; electronic cigarettes; glyoxal; methylglyoxal; E-liquid

Abstract

Over the past decade, use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has increased in the younger generations of the United States. With the broad range of flavors and devices distributed on the market, American youth are prime marketing targets for the e-cigarette industry. To create a more regulated market, research of this thesis has been conducted on newer generations of e-cigarette “MOD” devices to examine how e-cigarette battery power output and coil temperature, concentrations of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, added flavorings (strawberry, mango, and menthol), and the presence of nicotine affect generation of aerosol particles and aldehydes in aerosols emitted by later versions of e-cigarettes. A 50 mL syringe and Tedlar bags were used to standardize and collect the vapor produced by the e-cigarette. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was utilized to analyze the amounts and concentrations of aldehydes in the collected e-cigarette aerosols. Various tests were run using different e-liquid flavors, nicotine concentrations, and power-temperature settings. Tests were conducted on two separate heating coils with resistances of 1.4 Ω and 0.6 Ω. The results indicate that an increase in power and a decrease in resistance of the heating coil generated more aldehydes. Given the wide variety of e-cigarette device structures, flavor types, and nicotine concentrations on the market, it is likely that e-cigarettes produce broad ranges of toxic aldehydes, like formaldehyde, acrolein, glyoxal, and methylglyoxal, that react with proteins linked to respiratory diseases such as cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and early onset cancers.

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