Nicotine & Tobacco Research Journal Awards “Synthetic Cooling Agents in US-marketed E-cigarette Refill Liquids and Popular Disposable E-cigarettes” as its “2022 Most Cited Paper”

Sunday, April 9, 2023

               The journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research recently named the Center paper “Synthetic Cooling Agents in US-marketed E-cigarette Refill Liquids and Popular Disposable E-cigarettes: Chemical Analysis and Risk Assessment” its “2022 Most Awarded Paper”.

                The article is a continuation of the successful collaboration of the Center with toxicologists at Duke University and was spearheaded by Drs. Hanno Erythropel (Yale) and Sairam Jabba (Duke). It  is part of a body of new research exploring the often opaque chemical landscape of e-cigarettes. This Center study identified and quantified synthetic coolants, termed WS-3 and WS-23, in popular disposable “Puffbar” e-cigarettes as well as e-cigarette refill liquids. Synthetic coolants reproduce the cooling effect of menthol by activating the TRPM-8 receptor, yet they lack its distinct odor. However, there are several concerns about synthetic coolant use in e-cigarettes and tobacco products writ large: (1) Their inhalational toxicity remains largely unknown, and (2) it may be used to circumvent menthol bans in tobacco products such as in Canada or the European Union, and also weighed in states and at the federal level in the United States.

                With Nicotine & Tobacco Research’s celebration of “Synthetic Cooling Agents in US-marketed E-cigarette Refill Liquids and Popular Disposable E-cigarettes,” the paper and its authors join a lauded group of other Center papers that have been recognized by their respective journals and the wider research community for their noteworthiness and contribution to the field. Kudos to the authors and well done!

Read the most-downloaded paper here: https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntac046