Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine puffing behavior and topography over 24 hours among regular electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) users.
Methods: Twenty-four adult e-cigarette users (15 male) vaped their personal e-cigarettes ad-lib over the course of 24 hours. Participants took each puff via calibrated CReSS pocket topography monitors. We analyzed: number of puffs per day per session, mean puff volume, mean puff flow rate, mean duration of puff, and mean interval between puffs.
Results: Over 24 hours participants took on average 156.2±10.3 puffs, clustered in 10.2±7.9 puffs per puffing session with an average puff interval of 15.4±22.0 sec. A single puff lasted on average 3.0±1.2 sec, had a volume of 73.4±51.5 ml, and was taken with the average flow rate of 24.7±10.2 ml/sec.
Conclusions: There is substantial variability among e-cigarette users in the way they puff on these devices. When e-cigarette aerosol is generated for laboratory studies, there is a need for validated puffing protocols that not only reflects the most-common pattern but also intensive puffing behaviors observed among some e-cigarette users.
Keywords: e-cigarette; electronic cigarette; puffing behavior; puffing topography.