Early Chemistry of Nicotine Degradation in Heat-Not-Burn Smoking Devices and Conventional Cigarettes: Implications for Users and Second- and Third-Hand Smokers.

ABSTRACT: Nicotine exposure results in health risks not only for smokers but also for second- and third-hand smokers. Unraveling nicotine's degradation mechanism and the harmful chemicals that are produced under different conditions is vital to assess exposure risks. We performed a theoretical study to describe the early chemistry of nicotine degradation by investigating two important reactions that nicotine can undergo: hydrogen abstraction by hydroxyl radicals and unimolecular dissociation. The former contributes to the control of the degradation mechanism below 800 K due to a non-Arrhenius kinetics, which implies an enhancement of reactivity as temperature decreases. The latter becomes important at higher temperatures due to its larger activation energy. This change in the degradation mechanism i

SUBMITTER: Chavarrio Canas JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8154610 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature