Introduction. Lack of studies proving or denying passive smoker health risks caused by electronic cigarettes prevented from introducing restrictive measures and considering them to be tobacco products as early as in 2013. Indoor air pollution by consumed nicotine-containing products in extra-low concentrations which could be detected using high-tech lab mass-spectrometry techniques was the object of study. Material and methods. “Unknown composition” air sampling was carried out in the process of simulation tests. Three types of tobacco products were used in the tests: tobacco cigarettes, electronic nicotine-delivery system (ENDS), battery-powered heat-not-burn tobacco cigarettes (IQOS) with tobacco sticks. “Unknown composition” air samples were analyzed for volatile organic compounds, medium volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (total and separately 16 priority PAHs, inorganic elements (Si, Pb, Cu, Cr, Ni). Sampling was carried out three times a day on separate days for each type of product and control, a total of 12 “unknown composition” air samples being collected. The study of “unknown composition” air samples was carried out at the accredited chemical-analytical center “Arbitrazh” of the D.I. Mendeleev Institute of Metrology (accreditation certificate РОСС RU.0001.510650).Results. A total number of 115 chemicals were determined, and among them, substances significant concentrations of which are most likely related to tobacco or nicotine consumption, as compared to control, and depend on the type of nicotine-containing product, were identified. Statistically significant concentration excess (р≤ 0.05), as compared to control, was seen for 27 chemicals in indoor air polluted by-products of consumed tobacco cigarettes; when using electronic nicotine-delivery system (ENDS) the excess (р≤ 0.05) was shown for 2 chemicals, i.e.: acenaphthylene and benz(a)perene, and when using heat-not-burn tobacco products (IQOS) the excess of studied chemical concentrations in comparison with control was not reported.Conclusion. Findings of comparative analysis of “unknown composition” air sampling give evidence that a much larger number of harmful chemicals at significantly exceeded concentrations (р≤ 0.05), including those causing human health risks, is released when smoking cigarettes, as compared to using ENDS or IQOS.
Miniaturised air sampling techniques for analysis of volatile organic compounds in air
