On the Effects of E-Liquid Flavoring on Carbon Monoxide Emissions from E-Cigarettes

The e-cigarette market globally was valued around $14 billion in 20181. Although e-cigarettes are mainly used to help traditional cigarette smokers quit2, adolescents are also picking up these devices and reporting it as their only source of nicotine3. There are many different types of e-cigarettes on the market, Advanced Personal Vaporizers (APVs) are the most customizable, while disposable e-cigarettes are the least. Since e-cigarettes are still a relatively new device, there is not much known about the long- and short-term health effects. In many types of e-cigarettes, the user can choose which e-liquid flavor they would like to vape, and there are even shops where e-liquid flavors are completely customizable. My previous research, at Bucknell, has shown that e-cigarette effluent contains carbon monoxide (CO). In this thesis, the effect of e-liquid flavor on CO emissions was investigated. E-liquids that contained menthol showed a larger concentration of CO than the e-liquids without menthol. Adding menthol resulted in an average increase of CO by 3.16 ppm. The trend for mentholated and unmentholated were shown to be the same, Ripe Strawberry has the lowest concentration of CO emissions, while Madagascar Vanilla has the most. This shows that both menthol and flavoring additives contribute to the concentration of CO emitted