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REVIEW article

Front. Chem.
Sec. Analytical Chemistry
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fchem.2024.1433626

Analytical methods and experimental quality in studies targeting carbonyls in Electronic Cigarette aerosols

Provisionally accepted
Roberto A. Sussman Roberto A. Sussman 1*Federica M. Sipala Federica M. Sipala 2*Simone Ronsisvalle Simone Ronsisvalle 2*Sebastien Soulet Sebastien Soulet 3*
  • 1 Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares UNAM, Mexico City, México, Mexico
  • 2 Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, Sicily, Italy
  • 3 Ingesciences, Cestas, France

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    We provide an extensive review of 14 studies (11 independent and 3 industry-funded) on emissions generated by Electronic Cigarettes (ECs), specifically focusing on the evaluation of carbonyls present in these emissions and emphasizing a meticulous evaluation of their analytical methods and experimental procedures. Since the presence of carbonyl by-products in EC aerosol is concerning, it is important to evaluate the reliability of emission studies quantifying these compounds by verifying their compliance with the following criteria of experimental quality: authors must (1) supply sufficient information on the devices and experimental procedures to allow for potentially reproducing or replicating the experiments, (2) use of appropriate puffing protocols that approach consumer usage as best as possible, (3) use of appropriate analytical methods and (4) usage of blank samples to avoid false positive detection. Outcomes were classified in terms of the fulfilment of these conditions as reliable in 7 studies, partially reliable in 5 studies, and unreliable in 2 studies. However, only 5 studies used blank samples and 6 studies failed the reproducibility criterion. Carbonyl yields were far below their yields in tobacco smoke in all reproducible studies, even in the partially reliable ones, thus supporting the role of ECs (when properly tested and operated) as harm reduction products. This review highlights the necessity to evaluate the quality of laboratory standards in testing EC emissions to achieve an objective assessment of the risk profile of ECs.

    Keywords: electronic cigarettes, analytical methods, carbonyls, Aerosols, Aldehydes

    Received: 16 May 2024; Accepted: 18 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sussman, Sipala, Ronsisvalle and Soulet. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Roberto A. Sussman, Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares UNAM, Mexico City, México, Mexico
    Federica M. Sipala, Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, 95125, Sicily, Italy
    Simone Ronsisvalle, Department of Drug and Health Sciences, University of Catania, Catania, 95125, Sicily, Italy
    Sebastien Soulet, Ingesciences, Cestas, France

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.