A New Aerosol Respiratory Deposition Approach: Health Risks of Metals in Aerosols from Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems and Heated Tobacco Products

Details

• Journal Article:
  Journal of Aerosol Science
• Personal Author:
  Lee, Jinho ; Su, Wei-Chung
• Description:
  This study employed a newly developed MALDA-MOUDI approach to investigate the respiratory deposition of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) and Heated Tobacco Products (HTP) aerosol and used the resulting data to assess associated health risks. MALDA-MOUDI is a tandem system that integrates the Mobile Aerosol Lung Deposition Apparatus (MALDA) with the Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor (MOUDI) to enable effective estimations of the size-dependent deposited mass of inhaled aerosol in major airway regions. The MALDA-MOUDI system covers a wide particle size range, from nanometers to micrometers, making it ideal for comprehensive aerosol exposure research. To study ENDS and HTP aerosol respiratory deposition using MALDA-MOUDI, a series of laboratory experiments was conducted to obtain the deposited mass of ENDS and HTP aerosol in human airways. Two types of ENDS and one HTP (JUUL, disposable, and IQOS) were used in the study to generate test aerosol. MALDA-MOUDI respiratory deposition experiments were carried out under both active (mainstream) and passive (secondhand) exposure conditions. Metal-induced health risks were systematically evaluated based on the measured respiratory deposited mass under presumed active and passive use scenarios. The acquired results indicated that non-cancer and cancer risks associated with metals released from the tested ENDS and HTP fell within acceptable levels for both active and passive use scenarios. The MALDA-MOUDI system is a valuable tool for aerosol respiratory deposition studies and can be applied to broader environmental and occupational aerosol exposure research to assess health risks associated with toxic substances in aerosol particles. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  • Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems
  • Metals
  • Occupational Health
  • Respiratory System
  • Safety
  • Tobacco Products
• Keywords:
  • E-cigarettes
  • Electronic cigarettes
  • Nicotine
  • Tobacco
  • Aerosol particles
  • Aerosols
  • Particle aerodynamics
  • Particle size
  • Metals
  • Risk assessment
  More +
• ISSN:
  0021-8502
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Texas ; Dallas Region [OSHA]
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  17 pdf pages
• Volume:
  191
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20071936
• Citation:
  J Aerosol Sci 2026 Jan; 191:106709
• Contact Point Address:
  Jinho Lee, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Boston University, Talbot W Building, 715 Albany Street, Boston, MA, 02118, USA
• Email:
  jinholee@bu.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  • (-)-Nicotine (CAS RN 54-11-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2026
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• Source Full Name:
  J Aerosol Sci 2026 Jan; 191:106709
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/262869/cdc_262869_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 8.27 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:51be9df75e80a9e9871da1c8d5d5f59c3de8464ceabfeca1af228b40ab61a2a2701ad8dc5803ed50a06b12835e763dca65ded67fbcf992e4c19d5bbee2921c27