A Comparison of Flavorless Electronic Cigarette-Generated Aerosol and Conventional Cigarette Smoke on the Survival and Growth of Common Oral Commensal Streptococci

Giancarlo A. Cuadra, Maxwell T. Smith, John M. Nelson, Emma K. Loh and Dominic L. Palazzolo
Additional contact information
Giancarlo A. Cuadra: Department of Biology, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA 18104, USA
Maxwell T. Smith: Department of Medical Laboratory Science, School of Allied Health Sciences, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN 37752, USA
John M. Nelson: Department of Biology, School of Mathematics and Sciences, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN 37752, USA
Emma K. Loh: Department of Biology, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA 18104, USA
Dominic L. Palazzolo: Department of Physiology, DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN 37752, USA

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 10, 1-14

Abstract: Background: The use of electronic cigarettes (ECIG) has become very common. Consequently, critical analysis of the biological effects of ECIG aerosol deserves attention. Flavorless ECIG aerosol is known to comprise fewer harmful constituents than cigarette smoke. Therefore, we hypothesize that aerosol has less immediate effect on the viability of oral commensal streptococci than smoke. Methods: Survival and growth of four strains of commensal streptococci were measured after exposure to flavorless ECIG aerosol ± nicotine and smoke. Peristaltic pumps were used to transport aerosol or smoke into chambers containing recently seeded colony-forming units (CFUs) of the oral commensal streptococci on agar plates. Bacterial survival and growth, based on colony counts and sizes, were determined 24 h post-exposure. Additionally, aerosol or smoke were delivered into chambers containing pre-adhered streptococci to plastic coverslips and biofilm formation was determined 24 h post-exposure via scanning electron microscopy. Results: The results suggest that flavorless aerosol ± nicotine has a modest effect on bacterial growth both as colonies on agar and as biofilms. In contrast, smoke dramatically decreased bacterial survival and growth in all parameters measured. Conclusion: Unlike cigarette smoke, flavorless ECIG aerosol has only a small effect on the survival and growth of oral commensal streptococci .

Keywords: ECIG; E-liquid; vaping; smoking; aerosol; streptococci; oral commensal bacteria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/10/1669/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/10/1669/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:10:p:1669-:d:230803

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().