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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Clinical and Translational Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1437042

The Impact of Sucralose and Neotame on the Safety of Metal Precipitation in Electronic Cigarettes

Provisionally accepted
Xinyang Yan Xinyang Yan 1*Zheng Chen Zheng Chen 2Xianfang Rong Xianfang Rong 2Zhichao Chen Zhichao Chen 2Guanlin Wu Guanlin Wu 2Zeyi Dong Zeyi Dong 2Yao Fu Yao Fu 2Tao Hai Tao Hai 2
  • 1 Research and Development Center, IMiracle (Shenzhen) Innovation Technology, Shenzhen, China
  • 2 IMiracle (Shenzhen) Innovation Technology, Shenzhen, China

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

    This study investigated the impact of sweeteners on the release of heavy metals during the heating and atomization processes in electronic cigarettes. Based on a PG/VG base e-liquid with the addition of 2% and 5% neotame or sucralose, we quantitatively analyzed the impact of sweetener content on the levels of heavy metals such as Ni, Cr, and Fe in the e-liquid and aerosol after heating and atomization. Additionally, the heated e-liquid samples were used to culture SH-SY-5Y and Beas-2B cells, and their cytotoxic effects were assessed using the CCK-8 assay. The results indicated that the e-liquid with 5% sucralose had the highest average levels of heavy metals after heating and atomization, particularly nickel (13.36±2.50 mg/kg in the e-liquid and 12109±3229 ng/200 puffs in the aerosol), whereas the e-liquid with neotame had significantly lower average heavy metal content in comparison.Additionally, it was measured that the chloride ion concentration in the e-liquid with 5% sucralose reached 191 mg/kg after heating at 200°C for 1 hour, indicating that heating sucralose generated chloride ions, which reacted with metal components leading to heavy metal release. Cytotoxicity tests revealed that the base e-liquid without sweeteners exhibited the highest average cell viability after heating, at 64.80±2.84% in SH-SY-5Y cells and 63.24±0.86% in Beas-2B cells. Conversely, the e-liquid variant with 5% sucralose showed a significant reduction in average cell viability, reducing it to 50.74±0.88% in SH-SY-5Y cells and 53.03±0.76% in Beas-2B cells, highlighting its more pronounced cytotoxic effects compared to other tested e-liquids. In conclusion, sucralose in e-liquids should be limited to 2% or less, or replaced with neotame, a safer alternative, to minimize health risks.

    Keywords: electronic cigarettes, aerosol, Neotame, Sucralose, heavy metals, Cytotoxicity

    Received: 23 May 2024; Accepted: 09 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yan, Chen, Rong, Chen, Wu, Dong, Fu and Hai. 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: Xinyang Yan, Research and Development Center, IMiracle (Shenzhen) Innovation Technology, Shenzhen, China

    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.