Regulation of electronic cigarettes, which represent potential harm to public health.

最近上市的电子烟是一种由电池供电的设备，通过将化学溶液加热成蒸汽来产生类似烟草的烟雾。然而，关于电子烟安全性的信息很少，因为由于化学成分（如丙烯醛和其他羰基）的性质，对所产生的烟雾进行分析非常困难。最近，我们建立了一种有效的测定丙烯醛和其他羰基的方法，该方法由双筒体系统组成，第一个对苯二酚（HQ）筒体用于抑制丙烯醛的聚合，第二个2,4-二硝基苯肼（DNPH）筒体用于羰基的衍生。采用高效液相色谱法对空气中羰基衍生的所有腙进行了完全分离和测定。在本研究中，我们使用HQ-DNPH技术分析了电子烟产生的羰基化合物。结果表明，电子烟烟雾中含有甲醛、乙醛、丙烯醛、乙二醛和甲基乙二醛。甲醛的最大浓度为260 mg/m^3。根据不同的品牌，墨盒通常含有湿润剂来产生蒸汽（如乙二醇、丙二醇或甘油）和香料（如烟草、薄荷、水果和巧克力）。因此，制作了一种简单的电子烟，包括一根卷曲的镍铬线和乙二醇；在Nichrom线上施加1.5~7.5 V的电压。结果发现，当电压超过3v时，会产生含有羰基化合物的薄雾。结果表明，乙二醇被氧化为甲醛和乙二醛；丙二醇氧化生成甲醛、乙醛和甲乙二醛；甘油被氧化为甲醛、丙烯醛、乙二醛和甲基乙二醛。

The electronic cigarette, introducedR recently to the marketplace, is a battery-powered device that provides tobacco-like smoke by heating a chemical solution into a vapor. There is, however, little information available regarding the safety of the electronic cigarette, because analysis of the smoke produced is very difficult due to the nature of the chemical components, e.g. acrolein and other carbonyls. Recently, we have developed an effective method for the determination of acrolein and other carbonyls using a dual-cartridge system, which consists of the first hydroquinone (HQ) cartridge for the inhibition of acrolein polymerization and the second 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) cartridge for the derivatization of carbonyls. All of the hydrazones derived from airborne carbonyls were completely separated and measured using HPLC. In this study, we analyzed carbonyl compounds generated by the electronic cigarette using the HQ-DNPH technique. Results showed that formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, glyoxal and methyl glyoxal were contained in the electronic cigarette smoke. The maximum concentration of formaldehyde was 260 mg/m^3. Depending on the brand, cartridges usually contain humectants to produce the vapor (e.g. ethylene glycol, propylene glycol or glycerol) and flavors (e.g. tobacco, mint, fruit and chocolate). Therefore, a simple electronic cigarette was made, comprising a coiled Nichrom wire and glycols ; a voltage of 1.5～7.5 V was applied to the Nichrom wire. It was found that when the voltage exceeded 3 V, a mist containing carbonyl compounds was generated. From the results, it was elucidated that ethylene glycol was oxidized to formaldehyde and glyoxal ; propylene glycol was oxidized to formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and methylglyoxal ; and glycerol was oxidized to formaldehyde, acrolein, glyoxal and methylglyoxal.