Particle doses in the pulmonary lobes of electronic and conventional cigarette users

Abstract

The main aim of the present study was to estimate size segregated doses from e-cigarette aerosols as a function of the airway generation number in lung lobes. After a 2-second puff, 7.7 × 10(10) particles (DTot) with a surface area of 3.6 × 10(3) mm(2) (STot), and 3.3 × 10(10) particles with a surface area of 4.2 × 10(3) mm(2) were deposited in the respiratory system for the electronic and conventional cigarettes, respectively. Alveolar and tracheobronchial deposited doses were compared to the ones received by non-smoking individuals in Western countries, showing a similar order of magnitude. Total regional doses (D(R)), in head and lobar tracheobronchial and alveolar regions, ranged from 2.7 × 10(9) to 1.3 × 10(10) particles and 1.1 × 10(9) to 5.3 × 10(10) particles, for the electronic and conventional cigarettes, respectively. D(R) in the right-upper lung lobe was about twice that found in left-upper lobe and 20% greater in right-lower lobe than the left-lower lobe.

Keywords: Cigarette-generated particles; Electronic cigarette; Human respiratory system; Lobar bronchi; Multiple-path particle dosimetry model; Particle lobar doses.