UK: Essentra Scientific Services Shares E-cigarette Knowledge at TSRC and CORESTA 2013

Source from:  Essentra Filter Products  10/24/2013

Essentra Scientific Services, part of the Filter Products division of Essentra PLC, has presented its latest findings into testing of e-cigarettes at the annual TSRC and CORESTA scientific conventions. In recent years there has been significant interest in comparing the performance of e-cigarettes versus that of conventional cigarettes, and Essentra Scientific Services recently shared its knowledge in this area.

Since their introduction ten years ago e-cigarettes have become increasingly popular, with the segment enjoying annual growth rates of around 50 to 100%. A segment that was once seen by some as a fad is now considered to have significant growth potential, evidenced by many of the largest multinational tobacco companies launching their own e-cigarette brands in recent years. However, despite their popularity, concerns continue to be raised about the potential harmfulness of e-cigarettes and no universal methods for the testing of e-cigarettes have yet been agreed.

This has created more demand for scientific testing to analyse what e-cigarettes contain. At the 67th Tobacco Science Research Conference (TSRC), recently held in Williamsburg, Virginia, Tony McCormack, Senior Manager for Intellectual Property at the Essentra Technology Centre, gave a presentation which examined the comparative yields of a number of potentially harmful minor constituents found in the vapour of a commercially available e-cigarette against those found in the mainstream smoke of a conventional cigarette. The research concluded that it is possible to adapt existing analytical methods used for the testing of conventional cigarettes, to quantify levels of tobacco specific nitrosamines (TSNAs), carbonyls, VOCs, phenols and minor alkaloids in e-cigarette vapour. Significantly, the research also indicated that the levels of the majority of the measured compounds found in the commercial e-cigarette product tested were below the level of detection and were significantly lower than those associated with the conventional cigarette (a Kentucky Reference K3R4F).

Following the TSRC conference, Essentra Scientific Services presented its second piece of new research at this year's CORESTA congress which took place in Seville, Spain. At the conference Dr Mike Taylor, Director for Scientific Development at Essentra Scientific Services, presented a new research paper examining the effect of puff profile and volume on the yields of particulate matter, nicotine and TSNAs in e-cigarettes. The research concluded that while exact details of testing procedures for e-cigarettes still need to be determined, some aspects of the methods used to test tobacco cigarettes can be adopted. For instance, it was found that methods for measuring the yields of potentially harmful compounds such as TSNAs can be modified for use with e–cigarettes, and also successfully determined that using a standard Cambridge Filter smoke trap was an acceptable method for the trapping of nicotine in e–cigarette vapour. Enditem