“When you apply the same voltage to the double-coil e-cigarette you see a lot less emissions”, said co-author and Berkeley Lab researcher Lara Gundel.
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Nowadays vaping is allowed nearly everywhere since it was thought it did not pose a threat or discomfort as regular cigars do, and also, e-cigarettes were known for having healthier and less-threatening chemicals than nicotine. The study utilized two kinds of electronic cigarettes and simulated vaping at multiple battery settings.
In laboratory tests, scientists found that the heat-related breakdown of propylene glycol and glycerin – two solvents found in most e-cigarette liquids – causes emissions of toxic chemicals such as acrolein, acetaldehyde and formaldehyde.
And puffs taken at different times released varying amounts of chemicals, the research showed.
And e-cigarette use has also spiked in the United States. E-cigarettes with higher battery voltage heated the liquid in e-cigarettes to higher temperatures and thus gave off more harmful chemicals.
Decomposition of those chemicals, caused by heating them inside an e-cig, also releases toxic chemicals such as acrolein and formaldehyde, according to the study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
The researchers only looked at two different types of e-cigarettes and three different types of liquids out of hundreds on the market, but Destaillats says he thinks the findings are a good indication of emissions for a variety of e-cigarettes. While e-cigarettes seem to be a safer, less toxic alternative – due to not burning tobacco – e-cigarettes still contain nicotine and other potentially harmful chemicals. The amount of chemicals produced varied, based on the temperature at which liquids are “vaporized” by the device’s “heating coil”.
The researchers examined the solvents in the e-liquids of all the e-cigarettes, finding that nearly all of them use a combination of propylene glycol and glycerin in varying proportions as a solvent.
An e-cig with only one heating coil operated at 3.8 volts was found to emit 0.46 micrograms of acrolein – a severe eye and respiratory irritant – per puff in the first five puffs, while the coil was heating up. They’re used in e-cigarettes to create artificial smoke.
But if you just have to have your e-cigarette, the study did find a few options to make each puff less harmful.
The usage of the device also affected the chemical emission, after several uses the chemicals were released more fluently. When that chemical residue heats up, it releases even more unsafe chemicals into the vapor.
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The accumulation of residues on or near the coil would provide a secondary source of volatile aldehydes, the authors note in the paper. This is possibly because e-cigarettes are relatively new compared to traditional cigarettes, which have been studied for more than 50 years. These two chemicals has never been reported in e-cigs before.
