Skip to main content
Article
A Simple Predictive Model for Estimating Relative E-cigarette Toxic Carbonyl Levels
PLoS ONE
  • Shawna Vreeke, Portland State University
  • Xijing Zhu, Portland State University
  • Robert Strongin, Portland State University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-1-2020
Subjects
  • Electronic cigarettes -- Toxicology,
  • Electronic cigarettes -- Health aspects,
  • Electronic cigarettes -- Analysis,
  • Formaldehyde,
  • Acetaldehyde
Abstract

E-cigarette devices are wide ranging, leading to significant differences in levels of toxic carbonyls in their respective aerosols. Power can be a useful method in predicting relative toxin concentrations within the same device, but does not correlate well to inter-device levels. Herein, we have developed a simple mathematical model utilizing parameters of an e-cigarette’s coil and wick in order to predict relative levels of e-liquid solvent degradation. Model 1, which is coil length/(wick surface area*wraps), performed in the moderate-to-substantial range as a predictive tool (R2 = 0.69). Twelve devices, spanning a range of coil and wick styles, were analyzed. Model 1 was evaluated against twelve alternative models and displayed the best predictability. Relationships that included power settings displayed weak predictability, validating that power levels cannot be reliably compared between devices due to differing wicking and coil components and heat transfer efficiencies

Description

© 2020 Vreeke et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0238172
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33681
Citation Information
Vreeke S, Zhu X, Strongin RM (2020) A simple predictive model for estimating relative e-cigarette toxic carbonyl levels. PLoS ONE 15(8): e0238172. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0238172