High Levels of Toxic Chemicals Found in Disposable Puff E-Cigarettes

A picture of a disposable puff electronic cigarette from Talbot Lab at the University of California, Riverside. Electronic cigarettes (EC) contain nicotine, solvents, and flavored chemicals, and are particularly popular among young people. In 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned flavored EC pods based on cartridges, but this ban did not extend to "disposable" flavored EC products, such as Puff EC. Unfortunately, the chemical composition and toxicity of the liquid in Puff ECs is largely unknown.

Researchers from the University of California Riverside and Portland State University have examined 16 disposable Puff devices to determine their flavor chemicals, synthetic cooling agents, and nicotine concentrations. One of the synthetic cooling agents tested is WS-23 which provides a cooling sensation.

A team used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify 126 flavor chemicals in Puff EC liquid and tested their toxicity on human bronchial epithelial cells. They reported in the journal Toxicology and Chemistry that the chemical content in single-use Puff EC was high and had cytotoxicity or toxicity to living cells.

Our data supports the need to regulate the flavoring chemicals and synthetic cooling agents in Puff EC to limit their potentially harmful effects on health," said Esther Omaiye, a former graduate student in the Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program and first author of the research paper. "The levels of nicotine, flavoring chemicals, and synthetic cooling agents in Puff EC are higher than those found in other consumer products, raising concerns about the safety of Puff products.

Omaiye, a postdoctoral researcher in the Prue Talbot laboratory, stated that one of the areas of regulatory concern related to e-cigarettes is the continuous development of novel chemicals in e-liquids.

For many years, we have been aware that EC design has been continuously evolving," said Talbot, the professor of cell biology leading the research team.

Recently, it has been discovered that chemicals used in e-cigarette liquids are changing. These changes are often made to make e-cigarette products more appealing to teenagers or to avoid regulation by the FDA, such as using synthetic nicotine instead of tobacco-derived nicotine to avoid FDA restrictions.

According to Talbot, the synthetic cooling agent WS-23, developed for use in shaving cream, is now included in EC liquids, but there is little information available about its inhalation toxicity.

Our work indicates that the concentration of WS-23 used in Puff ECs is sufficient to have negative long-term health effects," she said.

Other findings of the study include:

The EC in Puff contains a much higher concentration of synthetic cooling agents and flavor chemicals than JUUL EC.

Despite the unknown risks of inhaling, EC manufacturers are increasing the use and concentration of synthetic cooling agents, which is appealing to young users.

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