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

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 × 1010 particles (DTot) with a surface area of 3.6 × 103 mm2 (STot), and 3.3 × 1010 particles with a surface area of 4.2 × 103 mm2 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 (DR), in head and lobar tracheobronchial and alveolar regions, ranged from 2.7 × 109 to 1.3 × 1010 particles and 1.1 × 109 to 5.3 × 1010 particles, for the electronic and conventional cigarettes, respectively. DR 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.